In a late-afternoon statement today, the Judicial Council said that Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has “asked the Judicial Council’s rules committee to review and recommend changes to court rules so the court system can respond quickly and efficiently to ongoing needs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
That could mean either amending rule 8.66, which gives the Chief Justice, as Judicial Council chair, authority to extend appellate deadlines, but only for limited amounts of time, or adopting a new rule — specific to the pandemic — that allows for longer extensions. The relevant statute and rule don’t seem to prevent the Judicial Council from quickly amending a rule or enacting a new rule and having it take effect immediately. (See Gov. Code section 68072 and rule 8.13.)
A new rule or amendment could allow the Chief Justice to more effectively deal with extension issues on a statewide basis, rather than district-by-district as has been the case up to now.
The Judicial Council statement also reports that the Chief Justice has canceled the next council meeting, which was scheduled for this Tuesday. She is quoted as saying, “all our judicial council members serve as leaders in their local courts — as judicial officers, court executives, or attorneys. I do not want to take them away from their very important court roles. Any pressing business of the Judicial Council can be postponed or accomplished by circulating order via email. Judicial Council members should attend to essential work in their trial and appellate courts.”
