¶ 1 Appellant appeals from the judgment of sentence of imposed by the Trial Court after his failure to appear for a trial de novo. After review, we vacate the judgment pf sentence and remand for furthеr proceedings.
¶ 2 Appellant was charged by citation with a violation of the Vehicle Manufacturers, Dealers and Salespersons Act, 63 P.S. § 818.19(22), as a result of his alleged failure to remit sales taxes in the amount of $48.00 in connection with his sale of a vehicle for $800.00. 1 On July 14, 1999 *1170 after a hearing, a District Magistrate found Appellant guilty of violating 63 P.S. § 818.9(7) and ordered him to pay a fine of $1,039.00. Appellant filed a timely pro se notice of appeal for a trial de novo in the Washington County Court of Common Pleas. 2
¶ 3 A trial de novo was scheduled for November 18th, 1999 before a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County. However, prior to this date, the Trial Judge issued an order, docketed November 16th 1999, continuing the case until 10:30 a.m. January 4, 2000, because the рrosecutor would be unavailable due to a trip out of town. See Order of Trial Court, docket entry 9. The certified copy of the docket entries in this matter does not reflect that a copy of this order wаs ever provided to Appellant by the Washington County Clerk of Courts. Appellant, through counsel, avers in his brief filed in this matter that he appeared in court on November 18, 1999 and was informed that the hearing was cоntinued and that he would be notified of the new hearing date. Appellant’s Brief at 5. Appellant avers that he was never notified of the rescheduled hearing date.
¶ 4 By contrast, the Commonwealth claims that оn November 18, 1999 it made a request to continue the .hearing for cause which was granted by the Trial Court. Commonwealth’s Brief at 2. The Commonwealth maintains: “The Court orally directed the Commonwealth to obtain a new trial date and notify the parties accordingly. The matters concerning rescheduling are not, therefore, of record and are not contained in the docket transcripts of the Clerk of Courts.” Id: The Commonwealth further avers that it later attempted to provide notice of the rescheduled hearing by certified mail at an address of Appellant provided by “Appellant’s friend.” Id. However the Commonwealth alleges that the letter was returned as refused, and another letter sent to Appellant’s address of record was returned as unclaimed. Id.
¶ 5 On January 4, 2000, when the case was called to be heard, Appellant was not present. Appellant was convicted in ab-sentia and sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000.00. Judgment of sentence was entered on the docket January 28, 2000. Appellant, through counsel, filed a timely notice of appeal on February 3, 2000.
¶ 6 On this same date, the Trial Court docketed an order requiring Appellant to file a concise statement of maters complained of on apрeal, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P 1925, within fourteen (14) days after the entry of the order. Once again, the certified copy of the docket entries in this matter does not reflect that a copy of this order was provided to Appellant or to his counsel of record by the Clerk of Courts.
¶ 7 Appellant’s counsel avers that he did not receive a copy of this order until March 7, 2000 since the order was originally sent to his prior business address in Butler County. See Concise Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal, filed 3/15/2000, at 2. After receiving the order, Appellant filed a comprehensive statement of matters complained of on appeal on March 15, 2000. The Trial Court subsequently filed a brief opinion later that same day in which it claimed that it could not review any of the issues raised in Appellant’s Rule 1925(b) Statement, since “the defendаnt had failed to put this Court on notice as to what issues are now complained of.” Trial Court Opinion, filed 3/15/2000.
¶ 8 On appeal to our Court, Appellant. presents one issue for our consideration:
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT DENIED APPELLANT DUE PROCESS WHEN HE WAS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN SUMMARY OFFENSES UPON HIS FAILURE TO APPEAR AT HIS SUMMARY APPEAL HEAR *1171 ING WHERE HE WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE RESCHEDULED DATE OF SAID HEARING.
Appellant’s Brief at 4.
¶ 9 Our standard оf review of a trial court’s adjudication entered following a
de novo
trial on a summary offense is limited to whether the trial court committed an error of law and whether the findings of the trial court are supported by сompetent evidence.
Commonwealth v. Askins,
¶ 10 Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 9025 specifically provides as follows:
Upon receipt of an order from a judge, the clerk of courts shall immediately docket the order and record in the docket the date it was made. The clerk shall forthwith furnish a copy of the order, by mail or personal delivery, to each party or attornеy, and shall record in the docket the time and manner thereof.
Pa.R.Crim.P. 9025 (emphasis supplied). As our Supreme Court has made abundantly plain: “[T]he Clerk of Courts has a mandatory duty [under this rule], to furnish a copy of orders by mail or personal delivery to each party or attorney.”
Commonwealth v. Baker,
¶ 11 In the case
sub judice,
there was no recordеd notation on the docket which would indicate that the Clerk of Courts of Washington County ever furnished Appellant or his counsel of record a copy of the Trial Court’s order of February 3, 2000 directing Appellant’s counsel to file a statement of matters complained of on appeal. Thus, due to this obvious noncompliance with the express mandates of Rule 9025, we decline to find Appellant’s issue waived, pursuant to
Commonwealth v. Lord,
¶ 12 It is for these sаme reasons that we are also compelled to grant Appellant a new trial de novo. Once more, the docket simply does not reflect that a copy of the Trial Court’s written order of November 16, 1999, rеscheduling the trial de novo, was provided to Appellant by the Clerk of Courts, as required by Pa. R.Crim.P. 9025. This incontrovertible circumstance the Commonwealth acknowledges, via its explicit concession that matters conсerning rescheduling “are not contained in the docket transcripts of the Clerk of Courts.” Commonwealth’s Brief, supra, at 5. The fact that the Commonwealth avers that it provided notice of the new hearing date by certified mail to the Appellant makes absolutely no difference. It is not the duty of the Commonwealth to provide a defendant with a copy of a written court order rescheduling a hearing, but rather it is the exclusive duty of the Clerk of Courts. Baker, supra 3
¶ 13 As Appellant suggests, fundamental procedural due process in our system of jurisprudence embodies the bedrock principle that each participant in the adjudicative process be given adequate notice and the opportunity to be heard.
See e.g. Commonwealth v. Fahy,
. ¶ 14 Accordingly, the judgment оf sentence is hereby vacated. Case is remanded for a new trial. Jurisdiction relinquished.
Notes
. A provision of the act, 63 P.S. 818.4(5), authorizes any law enforcement officer to is *1170 sue citations for violations of the act.
. Appellant provided his mailing address on the appeal form.
. We note that Rule of Criminal Procedure 9024(b) allows the Trial Court to provide oral notice, on the record in open court, to a defendant of a pending criminal proceeding. However, no such notice of the rescheduled hearing was given by the Trial Court in this case.