Arizona's court system is embarking on its first comprehensive review of procedural rules for criminal cases in decades.
An order signed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales creates an 18-member task force of judges, lawyers and other individuals to propose changes by January 2017.
Bales says the task force will look for ways to clarify and simplify the current rules while promoting what Bales calls "the just resolution of cases without unnecessary delay or complexity."
The current criminal procedure rules date from 1973, though there have been changes over the four decades since then.
The new task force is headed by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Welty.
There's already has a separate task force reviewing the rules for civil cases to make them more comprehensible and user-friendly.
