SB 2565: Judiciary Package; Hawaii Supreme Court; Certiorari Review; Disposition Deadline

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO CERTIORARI REVIEW BY THE HAWAII SUPREME COURT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  Under section 602-59, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the decision by the Hawaii supreme court to accept or reject an application for writ of certiorari is discretionary.  Under that statute, the court's deadline to decide whether to accept the application is based on when a response to the application was, or could have been, filed.  A response to an application for a writ of certiorari may be filed by a party within fifteen days after the application is filed.  When a response is filed early, before the fifteen-day response deadline, the court's disposition deadline falls thirty days after the date the response was filed.  Thus, the disposition deadlines for certiorari review will vary depending on when a party files a response or, if no response is filed, when the response was due.  Also, parties can request up to a fifteen-day extension to file a response.

     When a response is filed early, the court's disposition deadline is also earlier, which results in the court having less time to perform a discretionary review of the legal issues raised by the parties.  In addition, the current language of section 602-59(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, establishing a variable disposition deadline based on when a response is or could have been filed, results in judicial inefficiencies.  Law clerks, court staff, and justices must continually monitor when a response was actually filed, including those filed early; determine if a clerk's extension was granted; or ascertain whether no response was filed by the due date, and adjust the disposition deadline for the cases based on those variables.  For example, in fiscal year 2025, 181 applications for certiorari were filed in the Hawaii supreme court.  For each of these cases, significant judicial resources were spent continually monitoring whether a request to extend the original fifteen-day deadline was granted and whether or when a response was actually filed, in order to determine the disposition deadline.  This use of judicial resources is more appropriately spent addressing the merits of the issues raised by the parties on the application for writ of certiorari.

     The legislature finds that a fixed deadline for disposition of certiorari review that is not dependent upon whether or when a response is filed would improve judicial efficiencies and would allow the Hawaii supreme court to fully exercise its discretionary authority.

     Moreover, the public and parties would benefit from a fixed disposition deadline because it would be easier to understand when a decision is forthcoming.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to improve efficiency by allowing the judicial, professional, and clerical staff resources of the Hawaii supreme court to focus on the review of certiorari applications based on a fixed disposition deadline.

     SECTION 2.  Section 602-59, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

     "(c)  An application for a writ of certiorari may be filed with the supreme court no later than thirty days after the filing of the judgment or dismissal order of the intermediate appellate court.  Upon a written request filed prior to the expiration of the thirty-day period, a party may extend the time for filing an application for a writ of certiorari for no more than an additional thirty days.  A response to an application for a writ of certiorari may be filed no later than fifteen days after the application is filed.  Upon a timely written request by a party, the clerk of the court shall grant one extension of time for no more than fifteen days for filing a response to an application for a writ of certiorari.  The clerk of the court shall note on the record that the extension was granted.  The clerk of the court shall give notice that the request is timely and granted.  A request is timely only if it is received by the clerk of the court within the original time for filing of the response.  The supreme court shall determine to accept the application within [thirty days after a response is or could have been filed.] sixty days after an application is filed.  The failure of the supreme court to accept within [thirty] sixty days after an application is filed shall constitute a rejection of the application.  Where the disposition deadline falls on a weekend or state holiday, the disposition deadline shall be extended to the end of the next business day."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 602-59(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall apply in the form in which it read on the day before the effective date of this Act to cases in which the intermediate appellate court's judgment or dismissal order was filed before the effective date of this Act.

Report Title:

Judiciary Package; Hawaii Supreme Court; Certiorari Review; Disposition Deadline

Description:

Establishes a fixed disposition deadline requiring the Supreme Court to decide an application for certiorari within 60 days after the application is filed.  Applies prospectively to cases in which the judgment or dismissal order of the Intermediate Court of Appeals was filed on or after the effective date of this Act.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2803

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:     S.B. No. 2565

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2565 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CERTIORARI REVIEW BY THE HAWAII SUPREME COURT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a fixed disposition deadline requiring the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court to decide an application for certiorari within sixty days after the application is filed, to be applied prospectively to cases in which the judgment or dismissal order of the Intermediate Court of Appeals was filed on or after the effective date of this measure.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary, Department of the Attorney General, and Office of the Public Defender.

     Your Committee finds that existing law requires the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court to decide whether to accept an application for writ of certiorari within thirty days after a response is or could have been filed.  However, response dates vary widely, and with cases involving multiple parties, responses may be filed on different dates, thus creating uncertainty.  Additionally, existing law requires responses to be submitted within fifteen days after the application for a writ of certiorari is filed, with an optional fifteen-day extension upon request.  Under the existing system, considerable judicial resources are spent continually monitoring whether a request to extend the initial fifteen-day response deadline was granted and whether or when a response was filed.  This measure will improve the judicial economy by allowing these resources to be devoted to analyzing the merits of applications, not tracking deadlines.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2565 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,