Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.20 · Chapter 2. Scope of the Civil Rules
Preemption of local rules
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Fields occupied
The Judicial Council has preempted all local rules relating to pleadings, demurrers, ex parte applications, motions, discovery, provisional remedies, and the form and format of papers. No trial court, or any division or branch of a trial court, may enact or enforce any local rule concerning these fields. All local rules concerning these fields are null and void unless otherwise permitted or required by a statute or a rule in the California Rules of Court.
(b) Application
This rule applies to all matters identified in (a) except:
(1) Trial and post-trial proceedings including but not limited to motions in limine (see rule 3.1112(f));
(2) Proceedings under Code of Civil Procedure sections 527.6, 527.7, and 527.8; the Family Code; the Probate Code; the Welfare and Institutions Code; and the Penal Code and all other criminal proceedings;
(3) Eminent domain proceedings; and
(4) Local court rules adopted under the Trial Court Delay Reduction Act.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2007; adopted as untitled subd effective July 1, 1997; previously amended effective July 1, 2000.)
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2015; adopted effective July 1, 2000; previously amended effective July 1, 2000, January 1, 2002, and January 1, 2007.)
Rule 3.20 amended effective January 1, 2015; adopted as rule 302 effective July 1, 1997; previously amended effective January 1, 2002; previously amended and renumbered as rule 981.1 effective July 1, 2000, and as rule 3.20 effective January 1, 2007.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_20
- Text hash
- sha256 eb20c32628fe1f52ad1346f46b69b2da459accc7e6716c95f5c149e7fe700748
- Composed by
- compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph
BenchPath cards that rely on this text
This rule cites
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Code of Civil Procedure
California Rules of Court
Cited by 3 provisions
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California Rules of Court
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