When may the Superior Court order a new trial on its own initiative?

Entry of judgment

The Court’s act is distinct from a party’s Rule 59(b) motion and from the alternative action on a timely motion after notice and opportunity to be heard.

Responsible actor. The Superior Court exercising its own-initiative power. Use an actual judgment entry and the ordinary own-initiative branch. No incoming party service is assumed.

1. Use an actual judgment entry and the ordinary own-initiative branch. No incoming party service is assumed.
2. Exclude the trigger day and count 10 days that are not Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays under Rule 6(a). These are short-period eligible days, not consecutive calendar days.
3. Check the actual holidays, additional closures and applicable electronic or paper boundary.
4. Establish the Court’s actual order and specified grounds. The calculated period does not itself supply an order or a new trial.

Rule 6(a) excludes the triggering event. Periods below eleven days exclude intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays; longer periods include them. A final Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or actual Prothonotary closure receives the stated next-open-day treatment. Backward notice components preserve the required minimum lead time before the scheduled event. Legal holidays include statutory days and days appointed by the Governor or Chief Justice. Good Friday and Thanksgiving Friday are Delaware holidays. The bundled calendar does not determine Sussex Return Day half-day access, additional judicial closures or actual office availability.

Rule 6(e) states a three-day addition to the prescribed period for party acts measured after service by mail. It does not apply to Court acts. These calculators use the disclosed nonmail-service component and do not implement the mail addition or determine legally effective service. An entry-based or filing-based event does not acquire a mail addition merely because a copy is mailed. Do not assume that the differently worded Chancery Rule 6(c) governs Superior Court computation.

These calculators cover the 2026 official Superior Court compilation together with the March 13, 2026 order effective March 20, 2026. Events before March 20 and backward periods crossing before that date receive no computed or paid date. This is publication coverage, not a finding that an actual act is late. Historical editions, emergency measures, changed orders and actual additional closures require separate review. Rules 141–146 govern CCLD cases and preserve general civil rules unless expressly displaced. Confirm the applicable amendment, discovery-motion, motion and briefing procedures before using an ordinary component.

Fictitious example

Use an actual judgment entry and the ordinary own-initiative branch. No incoming party service is assumed. Ordinary current-edition facts, no changed order and no incoming mail service.

Fictitious current-edition facts. This is the disclosed component with no altered order or additional actual closure. It does not establish effective service, completed filing, judicial action or procedural entitlement. Incoming mail-service additions require separate review.

Specified grounds

The Court must specify in its order the grounds for the new trial.

Mail addition does not apply

Rule 6(e) states that its three-day addition applies to party acts rather than Court acts.

Mail service and actual court schedule

Rule 6(e) states a three-day addition to the prescribed period for party acts measured after service by mail. It does not apply to Court acts. These calculators use the disclosed nonmail-service component and do not implement the mail addition or determine legally effective service. An entry-based or filing-based event does not acquire a mail addition merely because a copy is mailed. Do not assume that the differently worded Chancery Rule 6(c) governs Superior Court computation.

Current edition and historical scope

These calculators cover the 2026 official Superior Court compilation together with the March 13, 2026 order effective March 20, 2026. Events before March 20 and backward periods crossing before that date receive no computed or paid date. This is publication coverage, not a finding that an actual act is late. Historical editions, emergency measures, changed orders and actual additional closures require separate review. Rules 141–146 govern CCLD cases and preserve general civil rules unless expressly displaced. Confirm the applicable amendment, discovery-motion, motion and briefing procedures before using an ordinary component.

• Use an actual judgment entry and the ordinary own-initiative branch. No incoming party service is assumed.
• The base calculation does not obtain an extension, resolve a different branch or establish that the responsible actor completed the required act.

• Entry of judgment
• The Court’s act is distinct from a party’s Rule 59(b) motion and from the alternative action on a timely motion after notice and opportunity to be heard.
• The Court must specify in its order the grounds for the new trial.
• Rule 6(e) states that its three-day addition applies to party acts rather than Court acts.
• Establish the Court’s actual order and specified grounds. The calculated period does not itself supply an order or a new trial.
• Rule 5(d) addresses filing of papers required to be served. Under Rule 5(d)(1), requests and responses under Rules 31, 33, 34, 35 and 36 are ordinarily served without filing their contents. File the required Notice of Service identifying the discovery or response, its date and manner. Review the separate filing exceptions and any protective order. Rule 79.1 and Administrative Directive 2007-6 govern designated eFile proceedings. Directive section 6(a) treats a document successfully transmitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time as filed at the recorded authorized date and time. Section 6(b) requires selection of the parties and submission for electronic service; preserve the receipt identifying date, time and method. Filing alone does not establish service. Section 10 permits the Court, on satisfactory proof, to allow an attempted filing or service nunc pro tunc after a specified system or user error; relief is not automatic. Administrative Directive 2015-6 preserves 2007-6 except for its technology-fee change. Do not copy the Chancery ordinary 5 p.m. boundary. Confirm the actual case designation, required paper steps, any earlier Court deadline and current Prothonotary directions.