[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1768 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
2d Session
H. R. 1768
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 25, 2004
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow a judge to whom a case
is transferred to retain jurisdiction over certain multidistrict
litigation cases for trial, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Multidistrict Litigation Restoration
Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.
Section 1407 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in the third sentence of subsection (a), by inserting
``or ordered transferred to the transferee or other district
under subsection (i)'' after ``terminated''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(i)(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and except as provided in
subsection (j), any action transferred under this section by the panel
may be transferred for trial purposes, by the judge or judges of the
transferee district to whom the action was assigned, to the transferee
or other district in the interest of justice and for the convenience of
the parties and witnesses.
``(2) Any action transferred for trial purposes under paragraph (1)
shall be remanded by the panel for the determination of compensatory
damages to the district court from which it was transferred, unless the
court to which the action has been transferred for trial purposes also
finds, for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the
interests of justice, that the action should be retained for the
determination of compensatory damages.''.
SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO MULTIPARTY, MULTIFORM TRIAL JURISDICTION
ACT OF 2002.
Section 1407 of title 28, United States Code, as amended by section
2 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
``(j)(1) In actions transferred under this section when
jurisdiction is or could have been based, in whole or in part, on
section 1369 of this title, the transferee district court may,
notwithstanding any other provision of this section, retain actions so
transferred for the determination of liability and punitive damages. An
action retained for the determination of liability shall be remanded to
the district court from which the action was transferred, or to the
State court from which the action was removed, for the determination of
damages, other than punitive damages, unless the court finds, for the
convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice,
that the action should be retained for the determination of damages.
``(2) Any remand under paragraph (1) shall not be effective until
60 days after the transferee court has issued an order determining
liability and has certified its intention to remand some or all of the
transferred actions for the determination of damages. An appeal with
respect to the liability determination and the choice of law
determination of the transferee court may be taken during that 60-day
period to the court of appeals with appellate jurisdiction over the
transferee court. In the event a party files such an appeal, the remand
shall not be effective until the appeal has been finally disposed of.
Once the remand has become effective, the liability determination and
the choice of law determination shall not be subject to further review
by appeal or otherwise.
``(3) An appeal with respect to determination of punitive damages
by the transferee court may be taken, during the 60-day period
beginning on the date the order making the determination is issued, to
the court of appeals with jurisdiction over the transferee court.
``(4) Any decision under this subsection concerning remand for the
determination of damages shall not be reviewable by appeal or
otherwise.
``(5) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the authority of
the transferee court to transfer or dismiss an action on the ground of
inconvenient forum.''.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) Section 2.--The amendments made by section 2 shall apply to any
civil action pending on or brought on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(b) Section 3.--The amendment made by section 3 shall be effective
as if enacted in section 11020(b) of the Multiparty, Multiforum Trial
Jurisdiction Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-273; 116 Stat. 1826 et seq.).
Passed the House of Representatives March 24, 2004.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.