Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts

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District Court. Upon the merger of the lower trial courts (the sixty-one upstate City Courts, the New York City Criminal Court, the New York City Civil Court and the two District Courts on Long Island) into a single, statewide District Court, the acts currently governing all of these separate lower courts would need to be reconciled. This would likely require a repeal of certain of these Acts, such as the New York City Civil Court Act, the New York City Criminal Court Act, the Uniform District Court Act and the Uniform City Court Acts and the implementation of a coherent procedural code for the new, statewide District Court. Likewise, the Uniform Rules for each of the current local courts would need to be redrawn. * * * * This is by no means a comprehensive accounting of the procedural codes that will need to be amended, and obviously this section does not attempt to identify all of the individual code provisions that will need modification. The <strong>Commission</strong> recognizes that these considerable tasks must be pursued carefully in the near future. Given that consideration of these issues is underway, however, and given the substantial lead time that will exist between the initial passage of the Constitutional Amendment and a statewide referendum, the <strong>Commission</strong> has every confidence that there will be sufficient time to complete this undertaking. A streamlining of the procedural codes, where appropriate, will enhance the broader goal of efficiency that will result from a restructuring of the courts. * * * * The diagrams on the following page compare the current and proposed trial and appellate court structures of the New York State Court System for both criminal and civil matters. A Court System for the Future, February 2007 87
CURRENT STRUCTURE Court of Appeals Appellate Divisions of of the Supreme Court (Four Departments) civil criminal Appellate Terms of of the Supreme Court (First and Second Departments) Court of of Claims Surrogate’s Court Supreme Court Family Court County Court City City Court District Court NYC NYC Civil Civil Court NYC NYC Criminal Court PROPOSED STRUCTURE Court of Appeals Appellate Divisions of of the Supreme Court (Five Departments) civil criminal Appellate Terms of of the Supreme Court (First and Second Departments) Supreme Court District Court Note: Town and Village Courts and direct appeals excluded; in the Third and Fourth Departments, criminal appeals from the City Court proceed to the County Court and can be further appealed to the Court of Appeals. 88 A Court System for the Future, February 2007
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ACOURT SYSTEM FOR THE FUTURE: THE P
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On July 17, 2006,
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A. Vincent Buzard Partner, Harris B
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Counsel to the Commission</
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More fundamentally, the fragmented
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“New York has the most complex an
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“For 30 years, New York’s trial
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— SECTION ONE — THE CURRENT STR
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system grew exponentially. By the t
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issue from the Supreme Court or a c
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igation, family-related matters or
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Article VI of the New York State Co
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The Appellate Division was establis
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CURRENT STRUCTURE Court of Appeals
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state Constitution on November 4, 1
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jurisdiction would become Superior
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In short, when it comes to the stru
Page 35 and 36: Given this reality, it is in the in
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Page 41 and 42: for by HRA) because my welfare bene
Page 43 and 44: husband told the judge that I was a
Page 45 and 46: Costs to Individuals, Businesses, M
Page 47 and 48: appear as witnesses), or to family
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Page 51 and 52: Court upstate as well as the transf
Page 53 and 54: y the Legislature and were approved
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Page 57 and 58: efforts), make the case for reform
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Page 61 and 62: Commercial Division of the New York
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Page 65 and 66: Courts in Hempstead and Syracuse al
Page 67 and 68: The details of our proposal are ref
Page 69 and 70: continue to handle such matters whi
Page 71 and 72: We recognize that some have express
Page 73 and 74: The diagram below outlines the stru
Page 75 and 76: Under a “merger in place” plan,
Page 77 and 78: Judicial District. By contrast, jud
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Page 83 and 84: five years. 158 Therefore, it is no
Page 85: of preservation. The use of citatio
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Page 91 and 92: significant authority over our stat
Page 93 and 94: The Supposed Ease of an Administrat
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Page 97 and 98: a restructuring have already been c
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Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts

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