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HB2089
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
2089
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING
TO CERTIORARI REVIEW BY THE HAWAII SUPREME COURT
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION
1.
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Under section 602-59, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, the decision by the Hawaii supreme court to accept or reject an
application for writ of certiorari is discretionary.
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Under that statute, the court's deadline to
decide whether to accept the application is based on when a response to the
application was, or could have been, filed.
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A response to an application for a writ of certiorari may be filed by a
party within fifteen days after the application is filed.
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When a response is filed early, before the
fifteen-day response deadline, the court's disposition deadline falls thirty
days after the date the response was filed.
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Thus, the disposition deadlines for certiorari review will vary
depending on when a party files a response or, if no response is filed, when
the response was due.
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Also, parties can
request up to a fifteen-day extension to file a response.
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When a
response is filed early, the court's disposition deadline is also earlier,
which results in the court having less time to perform a discretionary review
of the legal issues raised by the parties.
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In addition, the current language of section 602-59(c), Hawaii Revised
Statutes, establishing a variable disposition deadline based on when a response
is or could have been filed, results in judicial inefficiencies.
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Law clerks, court staff, and justices must
continually monitor when a response was actually filed, including those filed
early; determine if a clerk's extension was granted; or ascertain whether no
response was filed by the due date, and adjust the disposition deadline for the
cases based on those variables.
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For
example, in fiscal year 2025, 181 applications for certiorari were filed in the
Hawaii supreme court.
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For each of these
cases, significant judicial resources were spent continually monitoring whether
a request to extend the original fifteen-day deadline was granted and whether
or when a response was actually filed, in order to determine the disposition
deadline.
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This use of judicial resources
is more appropriately spent addressing the merits of the issues raised by the
parties on the application for writ of certiorari.
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The
legislature finds that a fixed deadline for disposition of certiorari review
that is not dependent upon whether or when a response is filed would improve
judicial efficiencies and would allow the Hawaii supreme court to fully
exercise its discretionary authority.
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Moreover,
the public and parties would benefit from a fixed disposition deadline because
it would be easier to understand when a decision is forthcoming.
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Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to improve efficiency by allowing the judicial,
professional, and clerical staff resources of the Hawaii supreme court to focus
on the review of certiorari applications based on a fixed disposition deadline.
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SECTION
2
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Section 602-59, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
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"(c)
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An application for a writ of certiorari may
be filed with the supreme court no later than thirty days after the filing of
the judgment or dismissal order of the intermediate appellate court.
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Upon a written request filed prior to the
expiration of the thirty-day period, a party may extend the time for filing an
application for a writ of certiorari for no more than an additional thirty
days.
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A response to an application for a
writ of certiorari may be filed no later than fifteen days after the application
is filed.
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Upon a timely written request
by a party, the clerk of the court shall grant one extension of time for no
more than fifteen days for filing a response to an application for a writ of
certiorari.
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The clerk of the court shall
note on the record that the extension was granted.
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The clerk of the court shall give notice that
the request is timely and granted.
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A
request is timely only if it is received by the clerk of the court within the
original time for filing of the response.
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The supreme court shall determine to accept the application within [
thirty
days after a response is or could have been filed.
]
sixty days after an
application is filed.
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The failure of
the supreme court to accept within [
thirty
]
sixty
days
after
an application is filed
shall constitute a rejection of the application.
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Where the disposition deadline falls on a
weekend or state holiday, the disposition deadline shall be extended to the end
of the next business day.
"
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SECTION
3.
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Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
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New statutory
material is underscored.
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SECTION 4.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval;
provided that section 602-59(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall apply in the
form in which it read on the day before the effective date of this Act to cases
in which the intermediate appellate court's judgment or dismissal order was
filed before the effective date of this Act.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
By Request
Report Title:
Judiciary
Package; Hawaii Supreme Court; Certiorari Review; Disposition Deadline
Description:
Establishes
a fixed disposition deadline requiring the Supreme Court to decide an
application for certiorari within 60 days after the application is filed.
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Applies prospectively to cases in which the
judgment or dismissal order of the Intermediate Court of Appeals was filed on
or after the effective date of this Act.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.