WSR 14-13-031

RULES OF COURT

[June 6, 2014]

The Washington State Bar Association having recommended the adoption of the proposed amendments to RAP 16.3, and the Court having considered the amendments and comments submitted thereto, and having determined that the proposed amendments will aid in the prompt and orderly administration of justice;

Now, therefore, it is hereby

(a) That the amendment[s] as shown below are adopted.

(b) That the amendment[s] will be published in the Washington Reports and will become effective September 1, 2014.

DATED at Olympia, Washington this 6th day of June, 2014.

(a) Habeas Corpus and Postconviction Relief. Procedure for Relief from Restraint. Rules 16.3 through 16.15 and rules 16.24 through 16.27 establish a single procedure for original proceedings in the appellate court to obtain relief formerly available by a petition for writ of habeas corpus or by an application for post-conviction relief. from restraint.

(b) Former Procedure Superseded. The procedure established by rules 16.3 through 16.15 and rules 16.24 through 16.27 for a personal restraint petition supersedes the appellate procedure formerly available for a petition for writ of habeas corpus and for an application for post-conviction relief, unless one of these rules specifically indicates to the contrary. These rules do not supersede and do not apply to habeas corpus proceedings initiated in the superior court.

(c) Original Appellate Court Jurisdiction. The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals have original concurrent jurisdiction in personal restraint petition proceedings in which the death penalty has not been decreed. The Supreme Court will ordinarily exercise its jurisdiction by transferring the petition to the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court has exclusive original jurisdiction in personal restraint proceedings in which the petitioner is under a sentence of death.