RULE 21. SUPERVISORY WRITS
(a) Petition, Filing, and Service.
(1) A party seeking a supervisory writ must file a petition with the supreme court clerk and serve the petition on all parties to the proceeding in the district court. The party must also provide a copy to the district court judge.
(2) The petition must state:(A) the relief sought;
(B) the issues presented;
(C) the facts necessary to understand the issues presented; and
(D) the reasons why a writ should issue.
(3) The petition must be accompanied by a copy of any order or opinion and other parts of the record that are necessary to understand the matters set forth in the petition.(A) If a petition is supported by briefs, affidavits, or other papers, they must be served and filed with the petition.
(B) Supporting papers must be contained in a separately bound appendix in the format specified in Rule 30(d) and Rule 32(b).
(b) Action; Response to Petition; Briefs.
(1) The court may act on a petition without a response. Otherwise, the court will fix a time for a response and may set a hearing.
(2) Two or more parties may respond jointly to a petition.
(3) The court may invite or order the district court judge to respond to a petition or may invite an amicus curiae to do so.
(c) Form of Papers; Number of Copies. A petition and any response must contain all applicable items listed in Rule 28(b). All papers must conform to Rule 32. An original and seven copies must be filed unless the court requires the filing of a different number in a particular case.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Rule 21 was adopted, effective March 1, 2004. It is designed to clarify supervisory writ procedure in the supreme court.
The supreme court has power under art. VI, § 2, of the North Dakota Constitution to issue original and remedial writs. Under N.D.C.C. § 27-02-04, the supreme court has supervisory power over inferior courts and may issue writs in the exercise of this power.
A petition for a supervisory writ is not an alternative to an appeal. The supreme court will issue a supervisory writ only to rectify errors and prevent injustice when no adequate alternative remedy exists.
This rule does not limit the supreme court's authority to exercise its supervisory power.
Other extraordinary writs are set out in the North Dakota Century Code. See N.D.C.C. ch. 32-34, for writ of mandamus; N.D.C.C. ch. 32-35, for writ of prohibition; N.D.C.C. ch. 32-33, for writ of certiorari; and N.D.C.C. ch. 32-06 for writ of injunction.
Subdivision (c) requires that a supervisory writ petition or any petition response must contain the elements specified in Rule 28 (b) that apply to the given document. For example, a petition that cites legal authorities must include a table of authorities as described in Rule 28 (b)(2).
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 24-25, 2003, page 14; January 30-31, 2003, pages 16-18.
CROSS REFERENCE: N.D. Const. art. VI, § 2; N.D.C.C. § 27-02-04; N.D.R.App.P. 28 (Briefs); N.D.R.App.P. 30 (Appendix to the Briefs); N.D.R.App.P. 32 (Form of Briefs, Appendices and Other Papers).