Delaware Court Rules (2026)
We publish 16 Delaware court rule sets with 1347 rules. Coverage includes the Court of Chancery (a leading forum for corporate litigation), Superior Court civil and criminal rules, Supreme Court rules, and the Delaware Rules of Evidence. Each rule includes the full text, a plain-English summary, committee notes, amendment history, and cross-references to related rules.
Delaware 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
Delaware Court of Chancery Civil Rules
The Delaware Court of Chancery Civil Rules govern civil proceedings in Delaware's Court of Chancery, one of the most influential business courts in the United States. The court has exclusive jurisdiction over corporate law matters and equity cases.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Superior Court Civil Rules
The Delaware Superior Court Civil Rules govern civil proceedings in Delaware's Superior Court, the court of general jurisdiction that handles most civil cases above the Court of Common Pleas monetary threshold.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Supreme Court Rules
The Delaware Supreme Court Rules govern appellate procedure before Delaware's court of last resort, which has jurisdiction over appeals from all state courts and exclusive jurisdiction over interlocutory appeals in certain civil cases.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Rules of Evidence
The Delaware Rules of Evidence govern what information may be presented in Delaware courts. Modeled on the Federal Rules of Evidence, they establish standards for the admissibility of testimony, documents, and other evidence in civil and criminal proceedings.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Superior Court Criminal Rules
The Delaware Superior Court Criminal Rules govern the procedure for felony and other criminal cases tried in Delaware's Superior Court.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Family Court Civil Rules
Civil practice in the Family Court, and the largest of Delaware's trial-court rulesets at 183 rules across seventeen parts. Beyond the general civil machinery it carries whole parts on the subjects that make up the court's docket: divorce and annulment (Part XII), child dependency, neglect and abuse (XIV), support (XV), protection from abuse (XVI) and the Delaware Child Support Formula (XVII). Rule 1(b) ties its vocabulary to Title 10 of the Delaware Code and provides that "Petitioner" includes "Plaintiff" or "Complainant". The protection-from-abuse rules were amended effective January 5, 2026, and this text is the amended version; the court printed the superseded text alongside it, and that older version is not carried here.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct
The Delaware Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct govern the professional obligations of every lawyer admitted in Delaware: competence and diligence, confidentiality of information, conflicts of interest, safekeeping property and the trust account overdraft notification of Rule 1.15A, the duties of a lawyer as advocate and as counselor, responsibilities within a firm, advertising, and the reporting of professional misconduct. Each rule carries its official Comment.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Court of Common Pleas Civil Rules
Civil practice in the Court of Common Pleas, Delaware's statewide intermediate trial court. The rules track the Superior Court's civil rules closely and are organized in the same eleven parts, from commencement and service through pleadings, parties, discovery, trial, judgment and appeals, so a practitioner moving between the two courts is working from a familiar numbering. The court sits in all three counties and takes civil cases within its monetary limit along with appeals from the Justice of the Peace Court; Rule 72 governs those appeals and the record on them. Rule 16.1 is marked [Deleted]. Rule 79.1 prescribes the exact caption and format a filed document must carry, and Rule 84 specifies the wording on the court's seal.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Court of Common Pleas Criminal Rules
Criminal practice in the Court of Common Pleas, which handles misdemeanors and traffic offenses statewide and hears appeals from the Justice of the Peace Court. Modeled on the Superior Court's criminal rules and organized in nine parts running from preliminary proceedings and charging documents through arraignment, venue, trial, judgment and supplementary proceedings. Rule 64 governs the transfer of cases to the Court of Common Pleas, which is how much of its criminal docket arrives.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Family Court Criminal Rules
Criminal practice in the Family Court, which in Delaware means juvenile delinquency proceedings and the adult misdemeanors within the court's jurisdiction. Ten parts, following the federal criminal pattern from preliminary proceedings through judgment and appeals, with the charging part titled "The Information and Petition" because a delinquency case is begun by petition rather than indictment. Rule 7.1 governs cases transferred from the Court of Common Pleas.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Justice of the Peace Court Civil Rules
Civil practice in the Justice of the Peace Court, Delaware's highest-volume civil forum and the one most litigants meet first. Twelve parts, printed in full capitals, covering debt actions and -- the court's signature jurisdiction -- summary possession, the landlord-tenant proceeding governed by Rule 70 and appealed under Rule 72.1. Rule 77 sets the court's fee schedule item by item, and Rule 112 governs proceedings in forma pauperis. Appeals run to the Court of Common Pleas.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Justice of the Peace Court Criminal Rules
Criminal practice in the Justice of the Peace Court, which handles the initial appearance and bail in most Delaware criminal cases as well as trying the misdemeanors and violations within its own jurisdiction. Ten parts on the federal criminal pattern. Part VIII, Appeal, is marked [Omitted] -- an appeal from this court is taken to the Court of Common Pleas under that court's rules rather than under these.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Lawyers' Rules of Disciplinary Procedure
The procedure by which a Delaware lawyer is investigated, charged and sanctioned -- the companion to the Rules of Professional Conduct, which state the duties these rules enforce. Two parts: Structure and Scope, which establishes the Supreme Court's authority and the roles of the Board on Professional Responsibility, the Preliminary Review Committee and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel; and Procedure, running from initial investigation through hearing, sanction and reinstatement. The rules cross-refer to Supreme Court Rule 62 for the Board's composition and approvals.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Justice of the Peace Court Civil Violations Rules
A short, self-contained set of thirteen rules for civil violations in the Justice of the Peace Court -- the non-criminal penalty proceedings the court hears separately from its debt and summary possession docket. Unlike the court's civil and criminal rules this set is not divided into parts.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Rules for Continuing Legal Education
The continuing legal education requirement for members of the Delaware Bar: ten rules establishing the Commission on Continuing Legal Education, the educational requirement itself, accreditation standards and credit hours, attendance records, and the consequences of non-compliance.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDelaware Superior Court Rules of Special Procedure
A single rule, and an unusual one. When the General Assembly rewrote Delaware's habitual offender statute in 2016 it opened a path for people already serving sentences imposed under the old version to ask for modification, and the Superior Court adopted this special rule to govern how those petitions are brought and decided. Special Rule of Procedure 2017-1 sets out the whole sequence: the Office of Defense Services represents the petitioner unless private counsel is retained; nothing may be filed until a judge issues a CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY, which counsel of record must request and support with specific averments about the petitioner's sentence and time served; the Attorney General responds stating whether the petitioner is serving a qualifying sentence and meets the time requirement; and only then may the petition itself be filed, setting out every ground for modification, a complete accounting of prior convictions, the petitioner's conduct while incarcerated, and the results of a formal risk assessment. The court may dismiss summarily on the papers. The rule is numbered by year rather than in the Superior Court's ordinary series and is cited "Del. Super. Ct. Spec. R. 2017-1"; the current version took effect February 1, 2020 and applies to every pending or later-filed modification request.
Updated 2026 Edition
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