Hawaii Court Rules (2026)
We publish 30 Hawaiʻi rule sets covering 1295 rules. Coverage spans circuit and district court civil procedure, penal procedure, evidence and appellate practice, the family, probate and land court rules, and the rules governing the Hawaiʻi bar — admission, professional conduct, discipline and the client protection fund. Each rule includes the full text, a plain-English summary, committee notes, amendment history, and cross-references to related rules.
Hawaii 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 24, 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
Hawaiʻi Family Court Rules
The Hawaiʻi Family Court Rules, governing divorce, custody, support, paternity, adoption, guardianship and child protective proceedings in the family courts. The largest of the Judiciary's rule sets, with its own pleading, discovery, trial and post-decree provisions.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Probate Rules
The Hawaiʻi Probate Rules, governing decedents' estates, trusts, guardianships and conservatorships in the circuit courts. Each rule carries the rules committee's commentary, which the committee states is interpretive and not binding on the courts.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Rules of Civil Procedure
The Hawaiʻi Rules of Civil Procedure, governing civil actions in the circuit courts. Coverage runs from scope and commencement, through service, pleadings and motions, parties, discovery and depositions, trials, judgment and provisional remedies, to appeals and general provisions. Rule 26 was comprehensively amended effective January 1, 2022 to require initial disclosures.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDistrict Court Rules of Civil Procedure
The District Court Rules of Civil Procedure, governing civil actions in the district courts of Hawaiʻi, which hear claims below the circuit courtsّ threshold. Coverage parallels the circuit-court rules through commencement, service, pleadings, discovery, trial and judgment, with the district courts own procedural variations.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Rules of Professional Conduct
The Hawaiʻi Rules of Professional Conduct, numbered on the ABA Model Rules. Coverage runs from the client-lawyer relationship (competence, fees, confidentiality, conflicts), through the lawyer as counselor and advocate, transactions with persons other than clients, law firms and public service, to maintaining the integrity of the profession. Each rule carries the court's comment.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Rules of Penal Procedure
The Hawaiʻi Rules of Penal Procedure, governing criminal proceedings in the state courts. Coverage runs from scope and preliminary proceedings, through the charge, arraignment and pleas, discovery, trial and judgment, to post-conviction relief under Rule 40 and the speedy-trial requirements of Rule 48.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Rules of Evidence
Hawaiʻi's evidence rules are STATUTE, not court rules: the Legislature enacted them in 1980 as chapter 626 of the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes and has amended them by session law ever since, most recently the victim-counselor privilege in 2023. They are cited as rules regardless — "HRE Rule 403" — and are numbered on the Federal Rules of Evidence, though the sequence opens with a rule the FRE has no counterpart to, Rule 100 on title and citation. Rule 102's own commentary states the limit of the borrowing: except for Articles III and V, these rules take the Federal Rules as their model. Those two articles are where Hawaiʻi genuinely diverges. Article III codifies presumptions in detail the FRE never attempts, separating presumptions that shift the burden of PRODUCING EVIDENCE from those that shift the burden of PROOF and listing sixteen specific presumptions by name. Article V rejects the federal approach outright: where FRE 501 leaves privilege to the common law, HRE 501 recognizes privileges "only as provided" and then enumerates them — lawyer-client, physician-patient, psychologist-client, spousal, victim-counselor, clergy, political vote, trade secrets, informer identity. Two further provisions have no federal analogue: Rule 409.5 makes expressions of sympathy or condolence inadmissible to prove liability, and Rule 1102 forbids the judge to comment on the evidence and requires instructing the jury that it is the exclusive judge of the facts. Each rule carries official commentary published with it, which Rule 102.1 makes usable "as an aid in understanding the rules, but not as evidence of legislative intent."
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Rules of Appellate Procedure
The Hawaiʻi Rules of Appellate Procedure, governing appeals to the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi and the Intermediate Court of Appeals. Coverage runs from the notice of appeal and the record, through briefs, oral argument and disposition, to reconsideration, certiorari under Rule 40.1 and the sanctions provisions.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Circuit Courts of the State of Hawaiʻi
The Rules of the Circuit Courts, governing practice before the circuit courts: the form of documents, parties without counsel, calendars, pretrial and settlement conferences, alternative dispute resolution, and the courts' own administrative requirements.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Land Court
The Rules of the Land Court of Hawaiʻi, governing the registration of land titles and proceedings affecting registered land: petitions, surveys and maps, the form of documents, and the Land Court's own administrative requirements.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Revised Code of Judicial Conduct
The Hawaiʻi Revised Code of Judicial Conduct, requiring a judge to uphold the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, to perform judicial duties impartially, competently and diligently, to conduct personal and extrajudicial activities so as to minimize conflict with judicial office, and to refrain from inconsistent political and campaign activity. Each rule carries the court's comment.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the District Courts of the State of Hawaiʻi
The Rules of the District Courts, governing practice before the district courts of Hawaiʻi, including the form of documents, calendars, continuances, and the district courts' own administrative requirements.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaiʻi
The Rules of the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi, the court's omnibus administrative set: admission to practice, the Disciplinary Board and attorney discipline under Rule 2, the Commission on Judicial Conduct under Rule 8, continuing legal education, and the court's own procedural requirements.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court
The Rules of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi, governing the Board's own procedure in attorney disciplinary matters: complaints and their investigation, hearings, the Board's recommendation, and review by the Supreme Court.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Board of Bar Examiners Rules of Procedure
The Rules of Procedure of the Hawaiʻi Board of Bar Examiners, governing the Board's organization and the bar admission process: applications and their review, the examination, character and fitness, and the Board's recommendations. Its provisions are numbered as Sections rather than Rules.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Arbitration Rules
The Hawaiʻi Arbitration Rules, governing the Court Annexed Arbitration Program for civil cases within its jurisdictional amount: submission, the arbitrator's powers, the award, and the trial de novo available from it.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules Governing Court Reporting
The Rules Governing Court Reporting in Hawaiʻi: certification of shorthand reporters, the examination and its administration, maintenance of certification and continuing education, and the Board's findings, recommendations and disciplinary procedures.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Tax Appeal Court
The Rules of the Tax Appeal Court of Hawaiʻi, governing appeals from assessments and other tax determinations: the notice of appeal, the record, pleadings and motions, trial and the appeal available from the court's decision.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Civil Traffic Rules
The Hawaiʻi Civil Traffic Rules, governing civil traffic infraction proceedings: the notice of infraction, answer, hearing before a judge or violations clerk, judgment and the review available from it.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Small Claims Division of the District Courts
The Rules of the Small Claims Division of the District Courts of Hawaiʻi, governing the informal civil docket: commencement, notice, hearing, judgment and the limits on representation and appeal.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseJudicial Selection Commission Rules
The Judicial Selection Commission Rules, governing the Commission's organization and its procedure in nominating candidates for judicial office and in considering the retention of sitting judges.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Rules for Certification of Spoken-Language Interpreters
The Hawaiʻi Rules for Certification of Spoken-Language Interpreters: the tiers of court interpreter designation, the requirements for each, the examination and orientation, continuing education, and the complaint procedure.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Court Records Rules
The Hawaiʻi Court Records Rules, governing public access to court and Administrative Driver's License Revocation Office records: what is accessible, what is restricted or sealed, bulk information, and the procedure for seeking access or restriction.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Electronic Filing and Service Rules
The Hawaiʻi Electronic Filing and Service Rules, which make electronic filing through JEFS mandatory for attorneys: registration, the form and effect of an electronic document, signatures, service and the exemptions from the mandate.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules Expediting Child Protective Appeals
The Rules Expediting Child Protective Appeals, which shorten and simplify the appellate process in child protective cases so that a child's permanency is not delayed by the appeal.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseHawaiʻi Appellate Mediation Program Rules
The Hawaiʻi Appellate Mediation Program Rules, governing the mediation of civil appeals: selection of cases, the mediator, confidentiality, and the effect of a settlement reached in the program.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules Governing Trust Accounting
The Rules Governing Trust Accounting, requiring a lawyer to maintain and reconcile client trust accounts, specifying the records to be kept and their retention, and providing for examination of those records.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules Governing the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection
The Rules Governing the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection of the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi: the Fund's trustees, the claims it may reimburse, the filing and investigation of a claim, and the limits on reimbursement.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules for Conversion of Non-Judicial Foreclosure Proceedings
The Rules for Conversion of Non-Judicial Foreclosure Proceedings, governing a borrower's conversion of a non-judicial foreclosure into a judicial one: the petition, the parties, and the conduct of the converted proceeding.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Intermediate Court of Appeals
The Rules of the Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawaiʻi, governing that court's own internal practice alongside the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Updated 2026 Edition
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