Section 565. Presentation of Information Without Preliminary Hearing

(A) When the attorney for the Commonwealth certifies to the court of common pleas that a preliminary hearing cannot be held for a defendant for good cause, the court may grant leave to the attorney for the Commonwealth to file an information with the court without a preliminary hearing.

(B) When a juvenile has been transferred for prosecution as an adult, the attorney for the Commonwealth may file an information with the court without a preliminary hearing.

Comment

The prior language of the rule, authorizing the attorney for the Commonwealth, with the permission of the court, to bypass the preliminary hearing to toll the statute of limitations or to extradite a defendant, was deleted in 1993 in light of changes in the law simplifying the process for obtaining custody of the defendant. It is intended that use of the bypass procedure as set forth in paragraph (A) will be limited to exceptional circumstances only.

Under the Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure and the Juvenile Act, a juvenile is entitled to substantially the same rights at a transfer hearing as a defendant would be at a preliminary hearing. See Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure 394 and 395 and Juvenile Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 6355. Therefore, to avoid duplicative proceedings, this rule permits the attorney for the Commonwealth to bypass the preliminary hearing when a juvenile has been transferred for prosecution as an adult.

Nothing in this rule is intended to preclude the attorney for the Commonwealth from filing an information or from having the date for the arraignment scheduled in those cases in which the issuing authority has conducted the preliminary hearing in the defendant’s absence as provided in Rule 543(D).

Official Note

Rule 231 adopted February 15, 1974, effective immediately; amended April 26, 1979, effective July 1, 1979; amended August 12, 1993, effective September 1, 1993; renumbered Rule 565 and amended March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001; Comment revised August 24, 2004, effective August 1, 2005; Comment revised April 1, 2005, effective October 1, 2005.

Committee Explanatory Reports:

Report explaining the August 12, 1993 amendments published at 22 Pa.B. 3826 (July 25, 1992).

Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 Pa.B. 1478 (March 18, 2000).

Final Report explaining the August 24, 2004 Comment revision concerning preliminary hearing in defendant’s absence published with the Court’s Order at 34 Pa.B. 5025 (September 11, 2004).

Final Report explaining the April 1, 2005 Comment revision concerning Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure published with the Court’s Order at 35 Pa.B. 2213 (April 16, 2005).

The provisions of this Rule 565 amended August 24, 2004, effective August 1, 2005, 34 Pa.B. 5016; amended April 1, 2005, effective October 1, 2005, 35 Pa.B. 2210. Immediately preceeding text published at serial page (305487).