The Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia shall apply to all proceedings under this article, except when those Rules are inconsistent with this article.
§ 8.01-216.19.Application of the Rules of the Supreme Court.
Chapter 3. Actions · Article 19.1. Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act · Last amended 2002 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-216.19 makes the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia apply to all proceedings under Article 19.1, including civil investigative demand enforcement petitions, except where a specific rule conflicts with the article’s own provisions.
Full Text of § 8.01-216.19
Plain-English Summary
Section 8.01-216.19 closes out Article 19.1 by tying the article back into Virginia’s general civil procedure. The Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia apply to all proceedings under the article — the underlying false claims action, the qui tam mechanics, and the civil investigative demand petitions alike — except where a particular Rule is inconsistent with what the article itself provides.
The article does not attempt to build a complete procedural code from scratch. It sets out special rules where the Commonwealth needed them — sealed complaints, intervention deadlines, civil investigative demand procedures, expanded service — and otherwise leaves ordinary pleading, discovery, and evidence practice to the standing Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Section 8.01-216.19 makes that reliance explicit and fixes the order of priority: the article’s specific provisions control, and the general Rules fill in everywhere else.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the ordinary Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia apply to a false claims case?
Yes. Section 8.01-216.19 makes them applicable to all proceedings under Article 19.1, unless a specific Rule conflicts with what the article provides.
What happens if a Rule of the Supreme Court conflicts with a specific provision of the Act?
The article’s own provision controls. The general Rules apply only where they are not inconsistent with the article.
Does this section apply to civil investigative demand enforcement petitions, or only to the underlying lawsuit?
It applies to all proceedings under the article, which includes civil investigative demand petitions filed under § 8.01-216.18 along with the underlying qui tam or Attorney General action.
Why does a specialized statute like this one need to borrow the general court rules?
The article sets out special procedures for the situations the Commonwealth needed to address — sealing, intervention deadlines, investigative demands — but it does not restate ordinary pleading, discovery, and evidence rules, so the general Rules fill those gaps.
Does this section give a court discretion to disregard a Rule that does not conflict with the article?
No. It requires the Rules to apply whenever they are not inconsistent with the article, leaving no open discretion to set aside a Rule that presents no conflict.
Amendment History
2002, c. 842.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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