A hearing on certification of the action as a class action is mandatory in all cases. The plaintiff has the burden of moving for a certification hearing. The motion must be filed within 30 days after the pleadings are closed or within 30 days after the last required pleading is due. This prevents a party from delaying the certification hearing by delaying the filing of a pleading when due. If the plaintiff fails to move, the court if so notified must promptly set a date for certification hearing. A representative party who does not move promptly may be charged with failure to represent the class adequately and runs the risk of removal under Rule 1713(a)(5).

In cases where discovery is essential or where other motions are pending, the court may extend the time for filing the motion for certification, but in doing so, it must not allow the matter to drag along indefinitely and must fix a date certain for the postponed hearing.

The motion for certification and the hearing thereon is the stage at which certification is determined. As noted above, preliminary objections are not the proper procedure for attacking the merits of class action averments. Any cases holding otherwise will no longer be authoritative.

The hearing is confined to a consideration of the class action allegations and is not concerned with the merits of the controversy or with attacks on the other averments of the complaint. Its only purpose is to decide whether the action shall continue as a class action or as an action with individual parties only. In a sense, it is designed to decide who shall be the parties to the action and nothing more. Viewed in this manner, it is clear that the merits of the action and the right of the plaintiff to recover are to be excluded from consideration.

As a practical matter, they cannot be considered. Since the certification hearing is not to be held until the pleading stage is concluded, attacks on the form of the complaint or demurrers to attack the substance must already have been filed and disposed of. The defendant will have already filed an answer on the merits.

At the certification hearing, the court will have before it the class action allegations in the complaint, the defendant’s answer to these allegations, any depositions or admissions relating to these allegations and any testimony relating to those allegations that may be offered at the hearing.