Victims’ Rights to be Integrated Throughout Arizona’s Rules of Criminal Procedure
READ THE FINAL RULES ORDER HERE
In just over a month, Arizona’s Rules of Criminal Procedure will have a new look. Effective July 1, 2023, victims’ rights will be fully integrated throughout Arizona’s Rules.
AVCV first presented integration in a 2017 Comment to R-17-0002, which was filed by Judge Welty to comprehensively revise Arizona's Rules of Criminal Procedure with substantive and stylistic amendments. Members of the 2017 Restyling Committee rejected most of AVCV's suggestions integrating victims’ rights. At the suggestion of the 2017 Committee, AVCV filed its own rule change petition in January of 2018 seeking to fully integrate victims’ rights into Arizona’s Rules and to abrogate Rule 39, which contained a mix of the constitutional and statutory provisions afforded to victims in Arizona. In August of 2018, AVCV’s petition was denied. AVCV again filed a rule change petition in January of 2019. AVCV’s 2019 petition was also denied.
After the denial of AVCV’s second petition, AVCV met with various stakeholders to discuss concerns with full integration and abrogation of Rule 39. After considering feedback, AVCV revised its petition and, in January 2020, filed a final rule change petition, R-20-0031, seeking to integrate victims’ rights into Arizona’s Rules of Criminal Procedure. Comments in full support of AVCV’s efforts at integration were filed by MCAO and APAAC. However, there was significant opposition to integration from other stakeholders.
In August of 2020, Arizona’s Supreme Court continued its decision on R-20-0031 pending the formation of a new restyling committee that would be comprised of prosecutors, defense attorneys, trial court judges, appellate judges, and victims’ rights advocates. The Committee on Criminal Rules Regarding Victims, which met throughout 2021 and 2022, was chaired by the Honorable Andrew W. Gould until his retirement. Thereafter, the Honorable John R. Lopez IV chaired the Committee. Members of the Committee, other stakeholders, and members of the public had multiple opportunities to comment and revise AVCV’s proposed amendments integrating victims’ rights throughout the Rules. After nearly two years of meetings and revisions, most Committee members voted not to recommend integration of victims’ rights into Arizona’s Rules. The Committee, however, also voted to allow Justice Lopez to file a new petition, R-22-0035, to offer the work of the Committee as another option for the Court. Thus, during the December 2022 Rules Conference, Arizona’s Supreme Court had the option to choose between the recommendation of the majority of the Committee to decline to integrate victims’ rights and the integration of victims’ rights as presented by Justice Lopez in R-22-0035.
On December 8, 2022, as it has for more than three decades since Arizona’s constitutional amendment passed, Arizona’s Supreme Court once again acted as a leader in victims’ rights and issued an order adopting R-22-0035 which will fully integrate victims’ rights into Arizona’s Rules of Criminal Procedure. This unprecedented step of integrating victims’ rights throughout the Rules sends an important message to victims in Arizona—their voices matter and their participation in the criminal justice process is valued. Equally important, and the reason for AVCV’s efforts in seeking integration, is that it will allow practitioners and courts to fully understand when victims’ rights are applicable in criminal cases.