Rule 2248.Acts of Assembly not suspended.
Adopted June 7, 1940 · Last amended June 3, 1994 · Last verified June 30, 2026
Full Text of Rule 2248
Plain-English Summary
Some statutes require a set number or share of people to join in a proceeding. Subdivision (a) leaves every such Act of Assembly in force: the joinder rules do not suspend or affect any statute requiring the joinder of a specified number or percentage of electors, taxpayers, stockholders, property owners or other persons. The Official Note gives examples, including a statute requiring twenty qualified electors of a city of the first class to join in a petition to impeach municipal officers, and statutes authorizing appeals by ten or more taxpayers from the report of a county’s auditors or controller.
Subdivision (b) names three more statutes the rules leave alone, and the Notes give their subjects. Section 18 of the Act of May 16, 1923 relates to proceedings to enforce a municipal claim. Section 8411 of the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code relates to appointing a guardian for a war veteran. Section 7540 of the Judicial Code relates to declaratory judgment proceedings.
The rule works as a limit on the chapter’s compulsory and permissive joinder rules, Rules 2227 through 2232.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the joinder rules override joinder statutes?
No. They do not suspend or affect an Act of Assembly requiring joinder of a specified number or percentage of electors, taxpayers, stockholders, property owners, or other persons. Subdivision (b) leaves three named statutes in force as well.
Official Note
Official Note: Illustrations of the type of statutes referred to by this subdivision are the Act of June 25, 1919, P. L. 581, Art. IV, § 9(b), 53 P. S. § 12200, requiring twenty qualified electors of a city of the first class to join in a petition to impeach municipal officers; the Act of March 10, 1949, P. L. 30, Art. II, § 242.1, added June 23, 1965, P. L. 139, § 1, as amended, 24 P. S. § 2-242.1, authorizing a majority of the resident taxpayers of an independent school district to file a petition for its abolition; and the Acts of July 28, 1953, P. L. 723, § 1931, 16 P. S. § 4931 and August 9, 1955, P. L. 323, § 1731, as amended, 16 P. S. § 1731, authorizing appeals by ten or more taxpayers from the report of the auditors or the controller of a county of the second to eighth class. The mandatory joinder requirements of these statutes are not affected by these rules.
Official Note: This section relates to proceedings to enforce a municipal claim.
Official Note: This section relates to the appointment of a guardian for a war veteran.
Official Note: This section relates to declaratory judgment proceedings.
Amendment History
The provisions of this Rule 2248 adopted June 7, 1940, effective February 5, 1941; amended June 3, 1994, effective July 1, 1994, 24 Pa.B. 3010. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (40101) and (15879) to (15880).