CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 31 - - APPELLATE PROCEDURE

31.1 SECTION 1: DEFINITIONS

31.1.1

"Appellate Judge" shall refer to any Judge included in a list of appellate judges, duly approved by the Red Cliff Tribal Council.

31.1.2

"Appellant" means the party who files the notice of appeal.

31.1.3

"Appeal" means written notice by a party that they are exercising their right to have the decision of the trial court reviewed by an appellate panel.

31.1.4

"Appellate Court" is synonymous with "appellate paner and refers to the panel selected by the Clerk of Tribal Court from the list of appellate judges, duly approved by the Tribal Council.

31.1.5

"Respondent" means the party against whom the appeal is filed (i.e., the appellee).

31.1.6

"Tribal Court" means the Red Cliff Tribal Court.

31.1.7

"Clerk" means the Clerk of the Red Cliff Tribal Court

31.2 SECTION 2: COMPOSITION OF ThE APPELLATE COURT

31.2.1

The Appellate Court shall consist of three (3) appellate judges selected by lot by the Clerk from amongst the list of Appellate judges which has been duly approved by the Red Cliff Tribal Council.

31.2.2

The Clerk shall assure panel selections are equitable. Judges not selected for the immediately preceding panel shall have two (2) ballots for lot selection; Judges previously selected shall have one (1) ballot for lot selection.

31.2.3

The Chief Judge of the Tribal Court shall appoint the Chief Judge of the Appellate Panel from amongst the Appellate Panel Judges.

31.2.4

The Clerk shall notice parties of the selected panel members. The parties shall have forty-eight (48) hours after receipt of notice to file a written objection to the panel.

( MISSING SECTIONS... )

31.6.4

All statements, briefs and memoranda filed with the Court under this Chapter shall be served upon all parties to the action.

31.7 SECTION 7: COMPUTATION OF TIME

31.7.1

In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by this Chapter, the day of the act, event or default from which the designated period begins to run shall not be included, unless otherwise specified elsewhere in this code. The last day of the period so computed shall be included. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, legal and/or tribal holidays shall always be excluded when computing time under this Chapter.

31.8 SECTION 8: FILING FEES AND COSTS

31.8.1

The filing fee for any appeal shall be a total of $100. $15 of the filing fee shall be paid at the time of filing the Notice of Appeal and is non-refundable. The remaining filing fee of $85 shall be paid at the time of filing the Grounds for Appeal.

31.8.2

The Tribal Court may order the filing fee waived, upon petition, by Appellant, where it is satisfied that the appellant lacks the means to pay it. Any Petition for Waiver of Filing Fee must include a statement of inability to pay and must accompany Appellants Notice of Appeal.

31.8.3

When the Tribe is the Appellant, the filing fee may be waived upon petition. If a waiver of the filing fee is granted by the Trial Court, unusual costs or expenses associated with the appeal may be assessed to the Tribe. If the Appellant is a tribal enterprise or board with delegated powers, the filing fee cannot be waived unless the Petition for Waiver is tested by the standard of inability to pay.

31.8.4

If an appeal is withdrawn, the withdrawal must be filed prior to the time for filing of the Grounds for Appeal. If the withdrawal is not filed prior to the time for filing of the Grounds for Appeal, the filing fee shall not be refunded.

31.8.5

Notice of Appeal shall be accompanied by a cash deposit or bond in an amount equal to the amount of the judgment, plus costs. The deposit/bond requirement may be waived only when in the judgment of the Court such deposit/bond is not in the interest of justice and/or such waiver does not unnecessarily harm the judgment holder.

31.9 SECTION 9: STAY ON APPEAL

31.9.1

The Trial Court or Appellate Court may, in its discretion, stay or modify injunctive orders or, stay any judgment, pending appeal.

31.10 SECTION 10: RECORD ON APPEAL

31.10.1

The papers filed in tribal court, the exhibits and the transcript of the proceedings shall constitute the record on appeal in all cases.

31.11 SECTION 11: ORAL ARGUMENT

31.11.1

At the discretion of the appellate panel, to aid it in reaching a wise decision or to avoid injustice to the appellant, an oral hearing on the appeal of matters of law may be ordered.

31.11.2

The Appellate Court shall determine how arguments shall be presented to the Court, the length of time allowed to each side, the order in which arguments are presented, the procedure of questioning by the Judges and other such matters.

31.12 SECTION 12: OPINION OF THE COURT

31.12.1

All appellate decisions shall be accompanied by a written opinion, briefly stating the issues as they appeared to the Court and the basis for the decision.

31.12.2

A written opinion shall be issued by the Court no later than thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the oral argument, or, if no oral argument is held within thirty (30) days of the expiration of time to file a responsive brief, statement or memoranda.

31.12.3

The Appellate Panel, with good cause as determined by the Court, may extend the time for issuing a written opinion, provided that the parties are notified of such extension. Any Notice of Extension must include the cause for and the length of such extension.

31.12.4

If no written opinion is issued by the Court within the time designated in Section 31.12.2, or by extension under 31.12.3, the Clerk shall contact members of the Appellate Panel to determine the status of the opinion, upon request by either party. The Clerk of Court shall, within ten (10) days of receiving such request, report the status of the opinion in writing to the Trial Court and the parties. If it appears from the Clerks report that no written opinion is forthcoming, either party may apply to the Trial Court for equitable relief. The provisions of Section 31.12.1 shall apply to this section.

31.12.5

The decisions of the Red Cliff Appellate Court are final and conclusive, and no further appeal may be taken.

31.13 SECTION 13: CONFLICT OF INTEREST

31.13.1

A judge who has presided over the case at issue or whom has any interest in the outcome of the proceedings other than the interests of justice may not sit as an appellate judge. All conflicts or potential conflicts of interest shall be disclosed to all parties to the proceeding at the earliest possible date, and for the record.

31.14 SECTION 14: FRIVOLOUS APPEALS

31.14.1

If an appeal is found by the Appellate Court to be frivolous, the Court may dismiss the appeal and award costs to the respondent. The Court may also assess expenses incurred by the Court to the Appellant If an Appellant has been granted a waiver of fees, the Court may assess a duty of community service to the Appellant.

31.15 SECTION 15: LEGAL FEES AND EXPENSES OF LITIGATION

31.15.1

At the Courts discretion, and upon petition, the Court may award legal costs of litigation to the prevailing party. The burden of establishing the necessity for such an award shall be upon the prevailing party.