Section 1114. Standards Governing Allowance of Appeal

(a) General Rule. Except as prescribed in Pa.R.A.P. 1101 (appeals as of right from the Commonwealth Court), review of a final order of the Superior Court or the Commonwealth Court is not a matter of right, but of sound judicial discretion, and an appeal will be allowed only when there are special and important reasons therefor.

(b) Standards. A petition for allowance of appeal may be granted for any of the following reasons:

(1) the holding of the intermediate appellate court conflicts with another intermediate appellate court opinion;

(2) the holding of the intermediate appellate court conflicts with a holding of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court or the United States Supreme Court on the same legal question;

(3) the question presented is one of first impression;

(4) the question presented is one of such substantial public importance as to require prompt and definitive resolution by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court;

(5) the issue involves the constitutionality of a statute of the Commonwealth;

(6) the intermediate appellate court has so far departed from accepted judicial practices or so abused its discretion as to call for the exercise of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s supervisory authority; or

(7) the intermediate appellate court has erroneously entered an order quashing or dismissing an appeal.

Official Note

The petition for allowance of appeal is synonymous with a petition for allocatur.

Pa.R.A.P. 1114(b)(7) supersedes the practice described in Vaccone v. Syken, 587 Pa. 380, 384 n.2, 899 A.2d 1103, 1106 n.2 (2006).

The provisions of this Rule 1114 amended December 11, 1978, effective December 30, 1978, 8 Pa.B. 3802; amended February 4, 2011, effective in 30 days, and shall be applicable to petitions filed thereafter, 41 Pa.B. 923; amended May 31, 2013, effective immediately, 43 Pa.B. 3223. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (361141).