The Supreme Court of Virginia is seeking comments on proposed changes to the rules of criminal discovery that have been submitted to the court by the Virginia State Bar Criminal Discovery Reform Task Force. VACDL had a number of members on this Task Force, and their efforts are much appreciated.

The proposed changes affect rules 3A:11 (Discovery and Inspection) and 3A:12 (Subpoena). Click the link below to access the full text of proposed revisions.

Proposed Discovery Rule Revisions SCV 2018

Comments are due by June 1, 2018 and should be forwarded to:

Patricia L. Harrington
Clerk Supreme Court of Virginia
100 North Ninth Street, 5th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219

OR via email with the subject line "comment on Rules 3A:11 and 3A:12" to: scvclerk@vacourts.gov

Please make every effort to submit a comment from your unique criminal defense practitioner perspective well in advance of the June 1, 2018 deadline. We need to let the Supreme Court of Virginia know how important these changes would be for many practitioners and defendants, and that the revisions, while not perfect, are a step in the right direction. Discovery reform in criminal cases has been long overdue, and there is still quite a way go to toward uniform justice across our Commonwealth.