Criminal Justice Standards

    Postconviction Remedies


    The following is the complete Table of Contents with links to the "black letter" standards approved by the American Bar Association's House of Delegates in August 1978. The standards are published along with commentary as Chapter 22 in ABA Standards for Criminal Justice: Volume IV, 2nd Edition, ©1980, by the American Bar Association. A 1986 supplement contains updated commentary.

    Copyright by the American Bar Association. This work (Criminal Justice Standards) may be used for non-profit educational and training purposes and legal reform (legislative, judicial, and executive) without written permission but with a citation to this source.  Some specific Standards can be purchased in book format.

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    PART I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

    Standard 22-1.1   Single, comprehensive postconviction remedy
    Standard 22-1.2   Characterization of the proceeding
    Standard 22-1.3   Proper parties; legal representative of the respondent
    Standard 22-1.4   Jurisdiction and venue; assignment of judges

    PART II. SCOPE OF POSTCONVICTION PROCEDURE

    Standard 22-2.1   Grounds for relief encompassed
    Standard 22-2.2   Prematurity of applications for postconviction relief; postponed appeals
    Standard 22-2.3   Custody requirement
    Standard 22-2.4   Statute of limitations; abuse of process; stale claims

    PART III. THE APPLICATION: PREPARATION, FILING, AND SERVICE

    Standard 22-3.1   Preparation of applications for relief; resources available to applicants
    Standard 22-3.2   Standardized application forms
    Standard 22-3.3   Applications with false allegations; verification requirement
    Standard 22-3.4   Supporting affidavits; sources of evidence to prove factual allegations
    Standard 22-3.5   Filing fees; potential liability for costs

    PART IV. PROCESSING APPLICATIONS

    Standard 22-4.1   Judicial responsibility for dispositions; magistrates and court staff
    Standard 22-4.2   Preliminary judicial consideration of an application before a responsive pleading
    Standard 22-4.3   Appointment of counsel
    Standard 22-4.4   Responsive pleading; calendar priority; bail; stay of execution; judgment on the pleadings
    Standard 22-4.5   Discovery; summary disposition on expanded record without plenary evidentiary hearing
    Standard 22-4.6   Plenary evidentiary hearing; presence of applicant; evidence and burden of proof; findings of fact
    Standard 22-4.7   Dispositive orders; trial court opinions

    PART V. APPELLATE REVIEW

    Standard 22-5.1   Appellate court jurisdiction; right to appeal
    Standard 22-5.2   Initiating appeals; release from custody pending appeal
    Standard 22-5.3   Processing appeals

    PART VI. FINALITY OF JUDGMENTS

    Standard 22-6.1   Finality of the judgment of conviction and sentence
    Standard 22-6.2   Finality of a judgment in a postconviction proceeding; repetitive applications
    Standard 22-6.3   Renewal of prosecution against a successful postconviction applicant

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