Rule 59 Effective Date

These rules started on January 1, 1977. From that date forward, every criminal case filed in Hawaiʻi has to follow these rules.

The rule also covers cases that were already in progress when the rules took effect. For those older cases, courts apply the new rules as much as they reasonably can. If following the new rules would be unfair or difficult given how far along a case already was, courts have room to handle things differently. The goal is to move everyone onto the same set of rules without causing unfair problems for cases that started under the old system.