Rule Text
Within 30 days after an opinion has been filed as unreported, any person may file an application to report the opinion. Except as noted in the next sentence, grant of the application requires an affirmative majority vote of the Commissioned Judges. Grant of an application to report an opinion of a single Judge or an opinion of a special election panel requires an affirmative two-thirds vote of the Commissioned Judges.
Amendment history: The provisions of this Rule 3740 adopted July 16, 2015, 45 Pa.B. 3975; amended January 17, 2020, effective immediately upon publication, 50 Pa.B. 651. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (377829).
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 Pennsylvania appeals court files an opinion marked as "unreported," anyone can ask the court to make it an official reported opinion. You have 30 days from when the opinion was filed to make this request.
Whether the request gets approved depends on the type of opinion. For most opinions, more than half of the court's judges must vote yes. For opinions written by a single judge or a special election panel, at least two-thirds of the judges must vote yes. This higher bar makes it harder to get those types of opinions officially reported.
Committee Notes
A decision may be reported when it:
(1) etablishes a new rule of law;
(2) applies an existing rule of law to facts significantly different than those stated in prior decisions;
(3) modifies or criticizes an existing rule of law;
(4) resolves an apparent conflict of authority;
(5) involves a legal issue of continuing public interest; or
(6) constitutes a significant, non-duplicative contribution to law because it contains:
(i) an historical review of the law,
(ii) a review of legislative history,
(iii) a review of conflicting decisions among the courts of other jurisdictions.
See also IOP § 412.