In Re: Order Amending Rules 401 and 1008 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure

Opinion

Explanatory Comment

The Supreme Court has rescinded Rule 401(c), which requires the prothonotary to attest or the plaintiff to certify that a copy of the original process to be served on the defendant is a true copy. Originally adopted in 1946 as part of former Rule 1008, the attestation or certification provided a mechanism to ensure that the copy of original process to be served had been authenticated as a true copy in a time when reproduction of documents was more labor-intensive and prone to error. Today, the requirement is anachronistic given modern methods of document reproduction that easily permit exact copies. The note to rescinded Rule 1008 cross-referencing Rule 401(c) has also been deleted.

By the Civil Procedural Rules Committee

John J. Hare Chair