821.01 Power to answer. The supreme court may answer questions of law certified to it by the supreme court of the United States, a court of appeals of the United States or the highest appellate court of any other state when requested by the certifying court if there are involved in any proceeding before it questions of law of this state which may be determinative of the cause then pending in the certifying court and as to which it appears to the certifying court there is no controlling precedent in the decisions of the supreme court and the court of appeals of this state.
History: Sup. Ct. Order, 107 Wis. 2d xiii (1982).
Judicial Council Note, 1982: This section provides that the supreme court has the right to answer questions certified to it; it is not mandatory. Under some circumstances it is possible that the court might decide not to answer a certified question. See, for example, Atlas Life Insurance Co. v. W. I. Southern, Inc., 306 U.S. 563 (1939) and National Labor Relations Board v. White Swan, 313 U.S. 23 (1941) (in both cases the Supreme court of the United States refused to answer certified questions).
The courts listed as the courts which may certify questions are the Supreme Court of the United States and the federal Courts of Appeals. Also included are the highest appellate courts of other states. This provision allows certification of questions in conflicts cases. [Re Order effective January 1, 1983]