Rule 53 - Assignment of Counsel(Applicable to criminal cases)
1.All Cases. If any party appears in the court in a matter in which the laws of the Commonwealth or the rules of the Supreme Judicial Court establish a right to be represented by counsel, the judge shall follow the procedures established in Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:10. 2.Murder Cases. Upon the determination by a judge that a person accused of murder in the first or second degree is to be provided counsel by the Committee for Public Counsel Services pursuant to Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:10 and G.L, c. 211D, § 8, the clerk shall notify the chief counsel of the Committee for Public Counsel Services for purposes of the assignment of the case to either the Public Counsel Division or Private Counsel Division, subject to the approval of the justice making the determination of indigency. Amended effective 5/8/1976;10/22/1977; amended May 6, 1978, effective 7/1/1978; amended effective 1/1/1981;11/17/1986.