The Supreme Court of this state may, by rule of court, provide that, when it shall appear to the Supreme Court of the United States, to any circuit court of appeals of the United States, or to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, that there are involved in any proceeding before it questions or propositions of the laws of this state, which are determinative of the said cause, and there are no clear controlling precedents in the decisions of the Supreme Court of this state, such federal appellate court may certify such questions or propositions of the laws of this state to the Supreme Court of this state for instructions concerning such questions or propositions of state law, which certificate the Supreme Court of this state, by written opinion, may answer.
Fla. Stat. § 25.031
Supreme Court authorized to receive and answer certificates as to state law from federal appellate courts
Applied in 41 court decisions — leading case Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc. (1970)
Most recently applied in Kinsale Insurance Company v. Pride of St. Lucie Lodge 1189, Inc. (April 2025)
History.--s. 1, ch. 23098, 1945; s. 1, ch. 57-274.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Online Sunshine (Florida Legislature). Reproduced from public-domain Florida statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.