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N.D.R.Crim.P. 34

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Rule 34 Arresting Judgment

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Rule Text

(a) In General. On the defendant's motion or on its own, the court must arrest judgment if the court does not have jurisdiction of the charged offense.

(b) Time to File. The defendant must move to arrest judgment within 14 days after verdict or finding of guilty, or after a plea of guilty.

Amendment history: (Adopted Apr. 24, 1973; amended Mar. 1, 2006, Mar. 1, 2007, Mar. 1, 2011, Mar. 1, 2016.)

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

If a court finds out it never had the legal authority to hear a criminal charge, it has to stop the case from moving forward, even after a guilty verdict or guilty plea. This is called "arresting judgment." The judge can do this on their own, or the defendant can ask for it through a motion.

There's a time limit for the defendant to make this request. The defendant has only 14 days after the verdict, the guilty finding, or the guilty plea to file the motion. If the deadline passes, the defendant loses the chance to raise this issue this way.

The key idea behind this rule is jurisdiction. Courts can only handle cases they have legal power over. If a court didn't actually have that power to begin with, the case result can't stand, no matter what happened during the trial or plea process.

Committee Notes

Rule 34 was amended, effective March 1, 2006; March 1, 2007; March 1, 2011; March 1, 2016.

Rule 34 is an adaptation of Fed.R.Crim.P. 34. The rule was amended, effective March 1, 2016, to recognize only one ground for a motion in arrest of judgment: that the court is without jurisdiction of the offense charged. This change was based on the December 2014 amendment to Fed.R.Crim.P. 34.

An attack on the sufficiency of the evidence should be by motion for acquittal under Rule 29; a claim of errors at the trial should be made by motion for a new trial under Rule 33; and defects of form in the indictment, information, or complaint must be raised before trial by motion under Rule 12.

A motion for arrest of judgment should ordinarily be made in writing and served upon the parties and filed. The grounds for the motion are stated in the language of the rule.

Subdivision (b) was amended, effective March 1, 2006, to increase to the time to file a motion to arrest judgment from seven to ten days. Subdivision (b) was amended, effective March 1, 2007, to eliminate the requirement that the trial court decide a motion for extension of time within ten days. Motions for extension of time must be made under Rule 45(b).

Subdivision (b) was amended, effective March 1, 2011, to increase to the time to file a motion to arrest judgment from 10 to 14 days.

Rule 34 was amended, effective March 1, 2006, in response to the December 1, 2002, revision of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.

SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 23-24, 2015, page 26; April 29-30, 2010, page 20; January 26, 2006, page 10; January 27-28, 2005, page 31; April 24-26, 1973, page 13; December 11-15, 1972, pages 19-20; September 26-27, 1968, pages 17-18; Fed.R.Crim.P. 34.

STATUTES AFFECTED:

SUPERSEDED: N.D.C.C. §§ 29-25-01, 29-25-02, 29-25-03, 29-25-04.

CONSIDERED: N.D.C.C. §§ 29-25-05, 29-25-06.

CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.Crim.P. 12 (Pleadings and Pretrial Motions); N.D.R.Crim.P. 29 (Motion for a Judgment of Acquittal); N.D.R.Crim.P. 33 (New Trial); N.D.R.Crim.P. 45 (Computing and Extending Time); N.D.R.Crim.P. 47 (Motions); N.D.R.Crim.P. 49 (Serving and Filing Documents).

← Previous Rule 33: New Trial Next → Rule 35: Correcting or Reducing a Sentence

Cross-References

Referenced By (1)

N.D.R.Crim.P. Rule 37

Bluebook Citation

N.D.R.Crim.P. 34

This Rule Set

View All N.D.R.Crim.P. Rules

Last updated: August 2026

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