Rule 28 - Decisions; Publication of Opinions(a)Generally. An appellate court's decision of an appeal must be in writing. The caption of a decision must contain the designation "Opinion," "Memorandum Decision," "Decision Order," or "Order." (1) An "opinion" is a written disposition of an appeal that is intended as precedent, and is distributed for publication. Publication means that the appellate court will distribute the opinion for reporting by publishing companies in compliance with the provisions of A.R.S. § 12-107, § 12-108 and § 12-120.07. A "memorandum decision" is a written disposition of an appeal that is not intended for publication.(2) A "decision order" or "order" is a disposition of a matter before the appellate court other than by opinion or memorandum decision.(b)Factors for Disposition by Opinion. An appellate court will issue an opinion if a majority of the judges deciding the appeal determines that the court's disposition does one or more of the following: (1) Establishes, alters, modifies or clarifies a rule of law;(2) Calls attention to a rule of law that is generally overlooked;(3) Criticizes existing law; or(4) Involves a legal or factual issue of unique interest or substantial public importance. If a disposition includes a separate concurrence or dissent whose author desires that it be published, then the disposition must be by opinion.
(c)Partial Publication. If the appellate court issuing a decision concludes that only a portion of its decision meets the criteria for publication, it may issue a portion of the decision as an opinion and the remainder as a separate memorandum decision, decision order, or order.(d)Dissenting Vote on Denial of a Petition for Review. If the Supreme Court denies a petition for review of an opinion and a justice voted to grant review, the caption of the Court of Appeals' opinion must report that justice's dissenting vote.(e)Depublication. Regardless of this Rule's other provisions, if the Court of Appeals has issued an opinion in a case that comes before the Supreme Court on a petition or cross-petition for review, before the Court of Appeals opinion becomes final the Supreme Court may enter an order directing that either the entirety, or a specified portion, of the opinion be depublished.(f)Citation of Decisions. Arizona Supreme Court Rule 111 governs the citation of decisions.(g)Motion for Publication. The appellate courts will consider a motion for publication of a memorandum decision as a motion for reconsideration under Rule 22. A party's motion and any response to the motion must comply with the requirements of Rule 22.Ariz. R. Civi. app. proc. 28
Amended June 29, 1987, effective 7/1/1987;9/13/1989, effective 9/20/1989. Amended June 10, 1997, effective 1/1/1998;9/2/2014, effective 1/1/2015.APPLICATION
<The Jan. 1, 2015 amendment is applicable to all appeals filed on or after Jan. 1, 2015, as well as all other appeals pending on that date, except when application would not be feasible or would work an injustice, so that the former rule will be applied.>