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N.D.R.Crim.P. 36

Not legal advice. Verify against official sources before relying on this text in any legal matter.

Rule 36 Clerical Error

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Rule Text

After giving any notice it considers appropriate, the court may at any time correct a clerical error in a judgment, order, or other part of the record, or correct an error in the record arising from oversight or omission.

Amendment history: (Adopted Dec. 11, 1972; amended Mar. 1, 2006.)

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

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

Here's a plain English summary of this rule:

Sometimes court paperwork has small mistakes, like a typo in a judgment or an error made because something was accidentally left out. This rule lets the court fix those kinds of mistakes at any time, even after the case seems finished.

The court can make these corrections on its own, without waiting for someone to file a formal request. Before fixing the error, the court may give notice to the people involved if it thinks that's needed, but it doesn't always have to.

This rule only covers clerical mistakes and oversights, not real legal errors. In other words, it's meant to fix things like a wrong date, a misspelled name, or a sentence that was written down incorrectly compared to what the judge actually said in court. It is not a way to change a decision the judge actually made on purpose. If someone disagrees with the actual outcome of a case, this rule does not give them a way to challenge that. It only allows the record to match what really happened.

Committee Notes

Rule 36 was amended, effective March 1, 2006.

Rule 36 is adapted from and contains language identical to Fed.R.Crim.P. 36. The rule is also similar to N.D.R.Civ.P. 60(a) and provides for correction of clerical error at any time.

Rule 36 is limited in scope to the correction of clerical errors or errors arising from oversight or omission. The rule does not apply to the correction of errors of substance, such as a sentence or a conviction improperly obtained. A clerical error involves a failure to record accurately a statement made or action taken by the court or one of the parties.

Under Rule 36, clerical errors may be corrected by the court on its own initiative or on motion of one of the parties. However, only the sentencing court may correct clerical error.

The evidentiary basis for correction under this rule may be derived from various sources, such as the official transcript, judge's notes, probation report, clerk's notes, and docket entries. The recollection of the trial judge is also a basis for correction.

Rule 36 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 January 27-28, 2005, page 32; December 11-15, 1972, pages 24-25; September 26-27, 1968, pages 18-19; Fed.R.Crim.P. 36.

STATUTES AFFECTED: None

CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.Civ.P. 60 (Relief from Judgment or Order).

← Previous Rule 35: Correcting or Reducing a Sentence Next → Rule 37: Appeal as of Right to District Court; How Taken