RULE 36. CLERICAL ERROR
Effective Date: 3/1/2006
After giving any notice it considers appropriate, the court may at any time correct a clerical error in a judgment, order, or other part of the record, or correct an error in the record arising from oversight or omission.
Rule 36 was amended, effective March 1, 2006.
Rule 36 is adapted from and contains language identical to Fed.R.Crim.P. 36. The rule is also similar to N.D.R.Civ.P. 60(a) and provides for correction of clerical error at any time.
Rule 36 is limited in scope to the correction of clerical errors or errors arising from oversight or omission. The rule does not apply to the correction of errors of substance, such as a sentence or a conviction improperly obtained. A clerical error involves a failure to record accurately a statement made or action taken by the court or one of the parties.
Under Rule 36, clerical errors may be corrected by the court on its own initiative or on motion of one of the parties. However, only the sentencing court may correct clerical error.
The evidentiary basis for correction under this rule may be derived from various sources, such as the official transcript, judge's notes, probation report, clerk's notes, and docket entries. The recollection of the trial judge is also a basis for correction.
Rule 36 was amended, effective March 1, 2006, in response to the December 1, 2002, revision of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of January 27-28, 2005, page 32; December 11-15, 1972, pages 24-25; September 26-27, 1968, pages 18-19; Fed.R.Crim.P. 36.
STATUTES AFFECTED: None
CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.Civ.P. 60 (Relief from Judgment or Order).