a. Discipline. Disciplinary matters will be conducted in accordance with the
Disciplinary Rules of this Court.
b. Prohibition of Unauthorized Practice. A person must neither exercise the
privileges of a member of this Court’s bar nor otherwise represent entitlement to
exercise those privileges if that person:
1. is not admitted to this Court’s bar; or
2. has not obtained leave of court to appear in a proceeding; or
3. is disbarred or suspended from practice before this Court.
c. Sanctions. A person who violates subsection (b) of this Rule may be held in
contempt of court and appropriately sanctioned.
APPENDIX A
Administrative Procedures for Electronic
Filing and Electronic Service for the
United States District Court for the
Northern Mariana Islands
By signature to the separate documents: "User Agreement for Electronic Case Filing" and/or
"User Agreement for Electronic Case Filing (Bankruptcy Division)," or “User Agreement for E-mail
Filing,” the User acknowledges and agrees to be bound by the following Administrative Procedures
for Electronic Filing and Electronic Service for the United States District Court for the Northern
Mariana Islands. 2
The Federal Rules of Procedure (Civil Rule 5(d)(3), also incorporated into the Federal Rules
of Criminal Procedure through Criminal Rule 49(d)), provide that a court may, by local rule, permit
filing, signing and verification of documents by electronic means. The Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure also provide that service upon an attorney or upon a party must be made in the manner
provided in civil actions (Criminal Rule 49(b), incorporating Civil Rule 5(b)). The Federal Rules of
Procedure also authorize each district court to make and amend rules governing its practice (Civil
Rule 83(a) and Criminal Rule 57(a)(1)).
The U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands has authorized filing, signing,
verification and service of documents by electronic means through its Local Rule 5.1 and by e-mail
filing pursuant to LR 5.3.
The term “Electronic Filing System” refers to this Court’s "Case Management / Electronic
Case Filing (CM/ECF)" system that receives documents filed in electronic form. The term “Filing
User” refers to those who have a court-issued log-in and password to file documents electronically or
to e-mail filers where appropriate.
1. Scope of Electronic Filing
Except as prescribed by local rule, order, or other procedure, the Court has designated all
Civil, Criminal and Miscellaneous cases to be assigned to the Electronic Filing System. Unless
otherwise expressly provided in these procedures, the local rules, or in exceptional circumstances
preventing a Filing User from filing electronically, all petitions, motions, memoranda of law, or other
A separate form is required for access to each electronic filing system (i.e one for district and one for bankruptcy).
pleadings and documents required to be filed with the Court by a Filing User in connection with a
case assigned to the Electronic Filing System must be electronically filed.
In a civil case, the filing of the initial documents, including the complaint and the service of
the summons, will be accomplished in the traditional manner on paper rather than electronically.
In a criminal case, the charging documents, including the complaint, information, indictment
and superseding information or indictment, will be filed by Filing Users either in the traditional
manner in paper form or as electronic documents that contain an image of any legally required
signature. In both Civil and Criminal cases, an electronic recording of the initial documents will be
the official record of the document in the Electronic Filing System.
2. Eligibility, Registration, Passwords
Attorneys admitted to the bar of this Court, including those admitted pro hac vice and
attorneys who have been temporarily admitted pursuant to Local Rule, may register as Filing Users
of the Court’s Electronic Filing System. Pro se parties and attorneys prohibited from accessing the
Court’s electronic filing system may register as E-mail Filers. Registration is in a form prescribed by
the clerk and requires the Filing User’s or E-mail Filer’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail
address, and a declaration that the attorney is admitted to the bar of this Court or does not have access
to the Electronic Filing System
Provided that a Filing User or E-mail Filer has an e-mail address, registration as a Filing User
constitutes consent to electronic service of all documents as provided in these procedures in
accordance with the Federal Rules of Procedure.
Once registration is completed, the Filing User will receive notification of the user log-in and
password. Filing Users and E-mail Filers agree to protect the security of their passwords and
immediately notify the clerk if they learn that their password has been compromised. Filing Users
and E-mail Filers may be subject to sanctions for failure to comply with this provision.
Filing Users and E-mail Filers may find it desirable to change their court assigned passwords
or e-mail account passwords periodically. In the event that a Filing User believes that the security of
an existing password has been compromised and that a threat to the System exists, the Filing User
must give immediate notice by telephone to the clerk, chief deputy clerk or systems department
manager and confirm by e-mail or facsimile in order to prevent access to the system by use of that
password.
Once registered, a Filing User or E-mail Filer may withdraw from participation in the
Electronic Filing System or E-mail Filing process only by permission of a judge for good cause
shown. The Filing User or E-mail Filer seeking to withdraw must submit a written request to the
Court explaining the reason(s) or justification(s) for withdrawal. Upon the judge’s approval of the
request, the clerk will deactivate the Filing User's access to, and electronic notices from the system,
and notify the Filing User of same. It is the Filing User’s or E-mail Filer’s responsibility to notify
opposing counsel in all pending cases that the Filing User has been granted permission to withdraw
from the Electronic Filing System and that all future service must therefore be made by conventional
means.
3. Consequences of Electronic Filing
Electronic transmission of a document to the Electronic Filing System consistent with these
procedures together with the transmission of a “Notice of Electronic Filing” from the Court, or
transmission by e-mail to the appropriate e-mail address specified in LR 5.3, constitutes filing of the
document for all purposes of the Federal Rules of Procedure and the local rules of this Court, and
constitutes entry of the document on the docket kept by the clerk under Fed. R. Civ. P. 58 and 79 and
Fed. R. Crim. P. 49 and 55.
Before filing a document, a Filing User or E-mail Filer must verify its legibility, and the
electronic document file must be saved or converted into “searchable” Portable Document Format
(PDF). A file is considered searchable when it has been either saved directly from a word processor
into PDF format, or else a scanned document which has had Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
performed on the document before saving in its final PDF format.
When a document has been filed electronically or e-mailed, the official record is the electronic
recording of the document as stored by the Court, and the filing party is bound by the document as
filed. Except in the case of documents first filed in paper form and subsequently submitted
electronically under Part (1) of these procedures, a document filed electronically is deemed filed at
the date and time stated on the “Notice of Electronic Filing” from the Electronic Filing System. For
E-mail Filers, the document will be filed on the date received by the Clerk’s Office at the appropriate
e-mail address.
Filing a document electronically or e-mailing a document does not alter the filing deadline for
that document. Filing must be completed before midnight local time for the Northern Mariana Islands
in order to be considered timely filed that day.
4. Special Filing Requirements and Exceptions
A. The following documents may be filed on paper and will be scanned into the
Electronic Filing System by the Clerk's Office or may be submitted on flash drive or e-
mailed to the Clerk’s Office pursuant to LR 5.3, at the option of the Filing User or the
Court, including the Clerk’s Office:
i. Administrative records in social security cases and in other administrative
review proceedings.
ii. The state court record and other Rule 5 materials in habeas corpus cases filed
in 28 U.S.C. Sections 2254 and 2255 proceedings, but not initial filings. See
