Explanatory Comment

The Supreme Court has rescinded Rule 401(c), which requires the prothonotary to attest or the plaintiff to certify that a copy of the original process to be served on the defendant is a true copy. Originally adopted in 1946 as part of former Rule 1008, the attestation or certification provided a mechanism to ensure that the copy of original process to be served had been authenticated as a true copy in a time when reproduction of documents was more labor-intensive and prone to error. Today, the requirement is anachronistic given modern methods of document reproduction that easily permit exact copies. The note to rescinded Rule 1008 cross-referencing Rule 401(c) has also been deleted.

By the Civil Procedural Rules Committee

John J. Hare Chair