California Court Rules (2026)
We publish all 14 active titles of the California Rules of Court, totaling 6880 rules. These rules govern civil, criminal, family, juvenile, probate, and appellate proceedings in California state courts, along with judicial administration and law practice standards. Each rule includes the full text, a plain-English summary, committee notes, amendment history, and cross-references to related rules.
California Court Rules & Rules of Practice
How this jurisdiction's courts and rules are organized, written for lawyers new to it: the court system, every ruleset a litigator touches, and how a case actually moves. Last verified September 2, 2026. For informational purposes only.
- Court System Overview
- The Ruleset Map
- Civil Litigation Mechanics
- Criminal Practice Mechanics
- Evidence
- Appellate Mechanics
- Rules of Professional Conduct
- Attorney Discipline & Enforcement
- Newcomer Orientation Notes
- Sources & Verification
California Rules of Court — Civil Rules
Title 3 of the California Rules of Court governs civil practice in California superior courts, including pleadings, motions, discovery, case management, ADR, settlement, and trial procedure.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Evidence Code
The California Evidence Code governs the admissibility of evidence in California courts. Enacted in 1965 and organized into 11 divisions, it covers relevance, judicial notice, burden of proof, witnesses, privileges, hearsay, and writings.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Court — Appellate Rules
Title 8 of the California Rules of Court governs appellate practice in California, including procedures for the Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court, covering briefs, oral argument, and writs.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Court — Family and Juvenile Rules
Title 5 of the California Rules of Court governs family law and juvenile proceedings in California courts, including dissolution, custody, support, domestic violence, dependency, and delinquency.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Code of Civil Procedure
California's civil procedure is statutory, and this is the statute — 3,365 sections in four parts, from the courts themselves through to the miscellaneous provisions. Part 1 organises the courts of justice; Part 2, by far the largest, is the civil action itself and holds most of what a litigator reaches for daily: the summons and service, the demurrer and the pleadings, the anti-SLAPP special motion to strike at section 425.16, summary judgment at 437c, trial and jury selection, judgment and its enforcement, and the appeal. The Civil Discovery Act runs from section 2016.010 — depositions, interrogatories, inspection demands, requests for admission and the motions to compel that follow each. Small claims practice begins at section 116.110. Part 3 covers the special proceedings of a civil nature, including writs of mandate and prohibition, unlawful detainer, arbitration and eminent domain; Part 4 the miscellaneous provisions, among them the rules of evidence in particular cases and the general provisions on construing statutes. Fifteen sections the publisher prints in square brackets, such as section 2077 on construing the descriptive part of a conveyance, are substantive and are included.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Court — Trial Court Rules
Title 2 of the California Rules of Court governs practice in California trial courts, covering court administration, case management, electronic filing, remote appearances, and records.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Court — Probate and Mental Health Rules
Title 7 of the California Rules of Court governs probate proceedings and mental health matters in California courts, including estate administration, conservatorships, guardianships, and LPS proceedings.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Court — Criminal Rules
Title 4 of the California Rules of Court governs criminal proceedings in California courts, including arraignment, pleas, trials, sentencing, and post-conviction proceedings.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Court — Judicial Administration Rules
Title 10 of the California Rules of Court governs the administration of the California judicial branch, including court facilities, personnel, technology, financial administration, and Judicial Council operations.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Penal Code, Part 2 — Criminal Procedure
Part 2 of the Penal Code, 1,366 sections, which is California's criminal procedure — the Rules of Court say comparatively little about it. It opens at section 692 with lawful resistance to a public offense and the intervention of the officers of justice, then runs the whole course of a criminal case: the local jurisdiction of public offenses and the time within which a prosecution must commence, complaints before magistrates, arrest and how it is made, citations for misdemeanors, and the examination and commitment of the accused. Title 4 is grand jury proceedings, its formation, powers and duties; Title 5 the pleadings, including the accusatory pleading and the demurrer. The pretrial title covers arraignment, the plea, discovery from section 1054, and the motion to set aside the indictment or information. Then trial by jury and its conduct, the verdict, the new trial motion, judgment and sentence, and the appeal. Also here: diversion and deferred entry of judgment, electronic monitoring, and the writs of habeas corpus and error coram nobis.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Court — General Rules
Title 1 of the California Rules of Court establishes the foundational rules applicable to all California courts, including definitions, construction principles, and general filing standards.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Court — Rules on Law Practice, Attorneys, and Judges
Title 9 of the California Rules of Court governs the professional conduct of attorneys and judges in California, including attorney admission, discipline, judicial conduct, and law school rules.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Rules of Professional Conduct
The California Rules of Professional Conduct govern the professional obligations of every lawyer admitted in California: competence and diligence, confidential information of a client, conflicts of interest and the eleven specific-transaction rules of 1.8.1 through 1.8.11, fees and fee divisions, safekeeping property, the duties of a lawyer as advocate and as counselor, responsibilities within a firm, advertising and solicitation, and the reporting of professional misconduct. Adopted by the Supreme Court of California and published by the State Bar; each rule carries its official Comment.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseCalifornia Standards of Judicial Administration
The Judicial Council's advisory standards, published alongside the Rules of Court and grouped by the same titles — 41 standards, current as of September 1, 2025. They are recommendations rather than mandates, which is exactly why practitioners read them: they are where the Council states what good practice looks like. Title 2 covers proceedings in the trial courts, and carries the case management and delay reduction principles (Standard 2.1), the trial court case disposition time goals (2.2), the procedure for determining whether an interpreter is needed and the preappearance interview (2.10, 2.11), trial management (2.20), uninterrupted jury selection (2.25) and judicial comment on a verdict or mistrial (2.30). Title 3 covers civil cases, including appearance by telephone and complex civil litigation; Title 4 criminal cases, including adult collaborative treatment courts, vacatur relief under Penal Code section 236.14, the court's use of risk and needs assessments at sentencing, and traffic infraction procedures. Title 5 covers cases involving children and families, Title 7 probate proceedings, Title 8 the appellate courts, and Title 10, the largest at 17 standards, judicial administration itself. Title 1 is reserved.
Updated 2026 Edition
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