Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 45, November 9, 2024
Rule 4017 - Transcript of Testimony. Objections(a) The person before whom the deposition is taken shall put the witness on oath or affirmation and shall personally or by someone acting under his or her direction and in his or her presence record the testimony of the witness.(b) The testimony of the witness shall be transcribed. Objections to the manner of preparation or the correctness of the transcript are waived unless they are filed in writing with the court promptly after the grounds of objection become known or could have been discovered with reasonable diligence.(c) When the testimony is fully transcribed a copy of the deposition with the original signature page shall be submitted to the witness for inspection and signing and shall be read to or by the witness and shall be signed by the witness, unless the inspection, reading and signing are waived by the witness and by all parties who attended the taking of the deposition, or the witness is ill or cannot be found or refuses to sign. Any changes in form or substance which the witness desires to make shall be entered upon the deposition by the person before whom it was taken with a statement of the reasons given by the witness for making the changes. If the deposition is not signed by the witness within thirty days of its submission to the witness, the person before whom the deposition was taken shall sign it and state on the record the fact of the waiver or of the illness or absence of the witness or the refusal to sign together with the reason, if any, given therefor; and the deposition may then be used as fully as though signed, unless the court holds that the reasons given for the refusal to sign require rejection of the deposition in whole or in part.(d) The person before whom the deposition is taken shall certify on the deposition that the witness was duly sworn and that the deposition is a true record of the testimony given by the witness.(e) In lieu of participating in the oral examination, parties served with notice of taking a deposition may transmit written interrogatories to the person taking the deposition, who shall propound them to the witness and record the answers verbatim.(f) Upon payment of reasonable charges, the person before whom the deposition was taken shall furnish a copy thereof to any party or to the deponent.The provisions of this Rule 4017 amended November 20, 1978, effective 4/16/1979, 8 Pa.B. 3551; amended November 7, 1988, effective 1/1/1989, 18 Pa.B. 5338; amended April 12, 1999, effective 7/1/1999, 29 Pa.B. 2281.