Whenever in any proceedings, civil or criminal, legal or equitable, in the superior
court or in any district court, any question of law shall arise or the constitutionality
of an act of the general assembly shall be brought in question upon the record, which,
in the opinion of the court, or in the opinion of the attorney general if the state
is a party to the proceeding or if he or she has intervened therein, is of such doubt
and importance and so affects the merits of the controversy that it ought to be determined
by the supreme court before further proceedings, the court in which the cause is pending
shall certify the question or motion to the supreme court for that purpose and stay
all further proceedings until the question is heard and determined; provided, that
no question shall be so certified in any criminal case where the defendant has not
been released on bail.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
89
cases, 1958–2007 · leading case:
Rubano v. DiCenzo, 759 A.2d 959 (R.I. 2000).
Rubano v. DiCenzo, 759 A.2d 959 (R.I. 2000).
· cites it 12× “In this proceeding, three questions of law deemed by the Chief Judge of the Family Court to be of such doubt and importance as to affect the merits of a pending complaint in that Court have been certified to this Court pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 9-24-27. The plaintiff in that…”
Chavers v. Fleet Bank (RI), N.A., 844 A.2d 666 (R.I. 2004).
· cites it 8× “Rather than reverse an earlier interlocutory ruling on a perplexing legal question that has been fully researched and argued, the Superior Court may certify the question to this Court pursuant to G.L.1956 § 9-24-27. See In re Christopher S.”
Brennan v. Kirby, 529 A.2d 633 (R.I. 1987).
· cites it 4× “1956 (1985 Reenactment) § 9-24-27. 1 The backdrop for this action is as follows.”
Sweeney v. Notte, 183 A.2d 296 (R.I. 1962).
· cites it 12× “After a hearing, a justice of the superior court denied the petitioners' motion for a preliminary injunction and invoking the authority of G.L. 1956, § 9-24-27, ordered the certification of certain questions as prayed.”
Kelly v. Marcantonio, 678 A.2d 873 (R.I. 1996).
· cites it 4× “The request made by the Superior Court is pursuant to G.L.1956 § 9-24-27. There is litigation now pending in both the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Superior Court arising out of the alleged sexual molestation of minors by…”
State v. DiStefano, 764 A.2d 1156 (R.I. 2000).
· cites it 4× “2 (driving under the influence, death resulting), the admission at trial of the results of breath, blood or urine tests when the samples were seized without the defendant's consent, but pursuant to a search warrant issued by a justice of the Superior Court.”
State v. Jenison, 405 A.2d 3 (R.I. 1979).
· cites it 4× “In Kent County, Judge McKiernan, instead of ruling on the motions, invoked §9-24-27 and certified three questions to this court for hearing and determination.”
In Re Christopher S., 776 A.2d 1054 (R.I. 2001).
· cites it 5× “1956 § 8-10-43 and G.L.1956 § 9-24-27 and Rule 72 of the Family Court Rules of *1055 Procedure for Domestic Relations.”
Chambers v. Ormiston, 935 A.2d 956 (R.I. 2007).
· cites it 2× “The Family Court, a legislatively created court of limited jurisdiction, 1 acting pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 9-24-27, has certified the following question to this Court: “May the Family Court properly recognize, for the purpose of entertaining a divorce petition, the marriage of…”
State v. DiCicco, 707 A.2d 251 (R.I. 1998).
· cites it 2× “This case came before the Supreme Court on the certification of two questions of law by a justice of the Superior Court pursuant to G.L.1956 § 9-24-27 and Rule 72 of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure.”
Pierce v. Pierce, 770 A.2d 867 (R.I. 2001).
· cites it 2× “I The Certification General Laws 1956 § 9-24-27 provides in pertinent part that: ‘Whenever in any proceedings * * * in the [Sjuperior [Cjourt or in any [Djis-trict [Cjourt, any question of law shall arise or the constitutionality of an act of the [Gjeneral [Ajssembly shall be…”
State v. Perry, 372 A.2d 75 (R.I. 1977).
· cites it 10× “He maintains this is so even though the language of this statute -apparently overlaps that of §9-24-27, 3 which permits -certification during the trial but only at the discretion of the court.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.