1997 Minnesota Code
Chapters 480 - 494 Judiciary
Chapter 480 Supreme Court
Section 480.061 Uniform certification of questions of law.

480.061 Uniform certification of questions of law.

Subdivision 1. Power to answer. The supreme court may answer questions of law certified to it by the supreme court of the United States, a court of appeals of the United States, a United States district court, a United States bankruptcy court, or the highest appellate court or the intermediate appellate court of any other state, when requested by the certifying court if there are involved in any proceeding before it questions of law of this state which may be determinative of the cause then pending in the certifying court and as to which it appears to the certifying court there is no controlling precedent in the decisions of the supreme court of this state.

Subd. 2. Method of invoking. This section may be invoked by an order of any of the courts referred to in subdivision 1 upon the court's own motion or upon the motion of any party to the cause.

Subd. 3. Contents of certification order. A certification order shall set forth

(a) the questions of law to be answered; and

(b) a statement of all facts relevant to the questions certified and showing fully the nature of the controversy in which the questions arose.

Subd. 4. Preparation of certification order. The certification order shall be prepared by the certifying court, signed by the judge presiding at the hearing, and forwarded to the supreme court by the court administrator of the certifying court under its official seal. The supreme court may require the original or copies of all or of any portion of the record before the certifying court to be filed with the certification order, if, in the opinion of the supreme court, the record or portion thereof may be necessary in answering the questions.

Subd. 5. Costs of certification. Fees and costs shall be the same as in civil appeals docketed before the supreme court and shall be equally divided between the parties unless otherwise ordered by the certifying court in its order of certification.

Subd. 6. Briefs and argument. Proceedings in the supreme court shall be those provided in rules of the court.

Subd. 7. Opinion. The written opinion of the supreme court stating the law governing the questions certified shall be sent by the clerk of the court to the certifying court and to the parties and shall be res judicata as to the parties.

Subd. 8. Power to certify. The supreme court or the court of appeals, on its own motion or the motion of any party, may order certification of questions of law to the highest court of any state when it appears to the certifying court that there are involved in any proceeding before the court questions of law of the receiving state which may be determinative of the cause then pending in the certifying court and it appears to the certifying court that there are no controlling precedents in the decisions of the highest court or intermediate appellate courts of the receiving state.

Subd. 9. Procedure on certifying. The procedures for certification from this state to the receiving state shall be those provided in the laws of the receiving state.

Subd. 10. Uniformity of application and construction. This section shall be so applied and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this section among those states which enact it.

Subd. 11. Citation. This section may be cited as the uniform certification of questions of law act.

HIST: 1973 c 25 s 1; 1983 c 247 s 164; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82; 1988 c 484 s 1