| 1 | House Joint Resolution |
| 2 | A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 2 of |
| 3 | Article V of the State Constitution relating to rules of |
| 4 | court procedure and practice. |
| 5 |
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| 6 | Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 7 |
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| 8 | That the amendment to Section 2 of Article V of the State |
| 9 | Constitution set forth below is agreed to and shall be submitted |
| 10 | to the electors of Florida for approval or rejection at the |
| 11 | general election to be held in November 2006: |
| 12 | ARTICLE V |
| 13 | JUDICIARY |
| 14 | SECTION 2. Administration; practice and procedure.-- |
| 15 | (a)(1)a. Except as provided in subparagraph b., the |
| 16 | supreme court shall adopt rules for the practice and procedure |
| 17 | in all courts including the time for seeking appellate review, |
| 18 | the administrative supervision of all courts, the transfer to |
| 19 | the court having jurisdiction of any proceeding when the |
| 20 | jurisdiction of another court has been improvidently invoked, |
| 21 | and a requirement that no cause shall be dismissed because an |
| 22 | improper remedy has been sought. The supreme court shall adopt |
| 23 | rules to allow the court and the district courts of appeal to |
| 24 | submit questions relating to military law to the federal Court |
| 25 | of Appeals for the Armed Forces for an advisory opinion. |
| 26 | b.1. A judicial conference is created. The responsibility |
| 27 | of the judicial conference is to propose rules of practice and |
| 28 | procedure governing violations of criminal law, violations of |
| 29 | criminal law by juveniles, and postconviction proceedings. |
| 30 | 2. The judicial conference shall be composed of members in |
| 31 | the manner as provided by general law. |
| 32 | 3. The judicial conference shall adopt rules governing |
| 33 | conference proceedings. Meetings of the judicial conference |
| 34 | shall be open to the public and provide opportunity for comment. |
| 35 | 4. Rules proposed by the judicial conference shall be |
| 36 | submitted to the supreme court for consideration. |
| 37 | 5. Unless otherwise provided by general law, the supreme |
| 38 | court shall submit proposed rules to the legislature by November |
| 39 | 30 of the year preceding the effective date of the proposed |
| 40 | rule. The legislature may adopt, reject, or amend proposed rules |
| 41 | by general law. If the legislature takes no action upon a |
| 42 | proposed rule by adjournment sine die of the next regular |
| 43 | session, the rule shall be deemed approved. Unless and until |
| 44 | adopted by general law or approved as provided in this |
| 45 | subsection, rules proposed by the judicial conference shall have |
| 46 | no force or effect. |
| 47 | (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of the |
| 48 | constitution, a court may not require or authorize collateral or |
| 49 | postconviction judicial review of a criminal judgment or |
| 50 | sentence except as authorized by general law or rule of |
| 51 | postconviction procedure adopted or approved in accordance with |
| 52 | this subsection. (3) Rules of practice and procedure may not |
| 53 | be inconsistent with general law and shall not abridge, enlarge, |
| 54 | or modify any substantive right. Rules of practice and procedure |
| 55 | may be repealed by general law. Rules of court may be repealed |
| 56 | by general law enacted by two-thirds vote of the membership of |
| 57 | each house of the legislature. |
| 58 | (b) The chief justice of the supreme court shall be chosen |
| 59 | by a majority of the members of the court; shall be the chief |
| 60 | administrative officer of the judicial system; and shall have |
| 61 | the power to assign justices or judges, including consenting |
| 62 | retired justices or judges, to temporary duty in any court for |
| 63 | which the judge is qualified and to delegate to a chief judge of |
| 64 | a judicial circuit the power to assign judges for duty in that |
| 65 | circuit. |
| 66 | (c) A chief judge for each district court of appeal shall |
| 67 | be chosen by a majority of the judges thereof or, if there is no |
| 68 | majority, by the chief justice. The chief judge shall be |
| 69 | responsible for the administrative supervision of the court. |
| 70 | (d) A chief judge in each circuit shall be chosen from |
| 71 | among the circuit judges as provided by supreme court rule. The |
| 72 | chief judge shall be responsible for the administrative |
| 73 | supervision of the circuit courts and county courts in his |
| 74 | circuit. |
| 75 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the title and substance of the |
| 76 | amendment proposed herein shall appear on the ballot as follows: |
| 77 | JUDICIAL CONFERENCE; |
| 78 | RULES OF COURT PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE |
| 79 | Proposes an amendment to Section 2 of Article V of the |
| 80 | State Constitution to create a judicial conference to propose |
| 81 | and implement rules of court practice and procedure governing |
| 82 | violations of criminal law, violations of criminal law by |
| 83 | juveniles, and postconviction proceedings, subject to review by |
| 84 | the Florida Supreme Court and approval by the Legislature; to |
| 85 | prohibit courts from requiring or authorizing judicial review of |
| 86 | criminal judgments or sentences except as authorized by general |
| 87 | law or court rule of postconviction procedure approved by the |
| 88 | Legislature; to require rules of court practice and procedure to |
| 89 | be consistent with general law, protective of substantive |
| 90 | rights, and repealable by the Legislature; and to delete a |
| 91 | requirement that legislative repeal of rules of court be by |
| 92 | extraordinary vote of each legislative chamber. |