Haw. Prob. R. 113.1

In proceedings for guardianships and conservatorships, any written report of a Kokua Kanawai, any court-ordered professional evaluation, and any responses or objections thereto, shall be sealed upon filing. A court order will continue to be required to authorize the clerk to unseal a confidential report or evaluation.

COMMENTARY:

HRS §560:5-307 and HRS §560:5-407 require Kokua Kanawai reports and professional evaluations to be sealed upon filing, but made available to the court; the respondent (without limitation as to use); the petitioner, the Kokua Kanawai, the petitioner's and respondent's lawyers (for purposes of the proceeding); and other persons (for any purpose the court may order for good cause).

The comment that accompanies both Article 307 and Article 407 of the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act explains:

. . . . This section is designed to protect the respondent's privacy, but still make the records accessible when needed to any of the involved parties or to others on a showing of good cause. The drafting committee recognized that "watch-dog" groups, the media, and others can perform essential functions of deterring abuse and facilitating reform, and in drafting this provision balanced the need to protect the respondent's privacy with the need of others to access this information.

Normally, documents are not filed under seal without a court order, which the filing party may seek by ex parte petition. This rule makes clear, however, that court staff must file under seal Kokua Kanawai reports filed pursuant to §560:5-303(e) or §560:5-406(e), and reports of a "physician, psychologist, or other individual appointed by the court who is qualified to evaluate the respondent's alleged impairment," pursuant to §560:5-306 or §560:5-406(f). Because the reports are sealed, responses and objections that refer to them are also sealed.

It is anticipated that at the time an individual is appointed to serve as a Kokua Kanawai or to evaluate an alleged incapacity, court staff will inform the appointee of the customary mechanics of preparing and presenting documents for filing under seal.

(Added April 28, 2006, effective July 1, 2006.)