§ 1.1.1 Structure and Membership.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 1.1.1 Structure and Membership. The Arizona appellate courts consist of the supreme court and the court of appeals, of which there are two divisions. The supreme court was created by article VI, section 1, of the Arizona constitution. It presently has five justices (the number may be increased by law). See ARIZ. CONST. art. VI, § 2; A.R.S. § 12-101.

The supreme court may sit either en banc or in division with not less than three justices. However, it cannot declare any law unconstitutional except when sitting en banc. See ARIZ. CONST. art. VI, § 2. In practice, decisions of the supreme court sitting in division must be unanimous. If there is a disagreement among the panel, the chief justice orders the matter considered en banc. When this happens, the justices who did not participate in the oral argument will listen to the recording of the oral argument and then make their decision. In rare cases, the matter may be reheard by the court en banc with a new oral argument.

The supreme court’s recent practice is to only sit in division in certain election cases that must be decided on an expedited basis and do not present substantial constitutional issues. The court generally decides cases en banc, after hearing oral argument, and ultimately announcing its decision in a written opinion.

Article VI, section 5(5), authorizes the supreme court to adopt rules relative to all procedural matters in any Arizona court. Pursuant to this authority, the supreme court has promulgated many sets of rules of procedure for the various courts and categories of legal proceedings. These include the rules of civil and criminal procedure, evidence, family law procedure, protective order procedure, probate procedure, juvenile proceedings, traffic cases, tax cases, eviction actions, special actions, and civil appellate procedure, as well as its own rules of procedure. In addition, the supreme court must approve amendments to the local rules of practice of the superior courts of the respective counties. See Hare v. Superior Court, 133 Ariz. 540, 542, 652 P.2d 1387, 1389 (1982), overruled on other grounds by State ex rel. Romley v. Ballinger, 209 Ariz. 1, 97 P.3d 101 (2004). In 1988, the supreme court promulgated Rules of the Supreme Court (R.S.C.) 28 (Procedure for Adoption, Amendment or Repeal of Rules), which provides for the adoption or amendment of rules by petition, with “public notice and opportunity for comment from the members of the legal profession and the public.”...