NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A998
SPONSOR: Steck TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to the timeliness of
judicial decisions
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To assure judicial decisions are rendered in a timely manner, thus
strengthening public confidence in the justice system and protecting the
rights of litigants.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The bill provides that a judge shall have 9 months to decide a motion or
a trial. Failure to do so constitutes misconduct. Offenders shall be
subject to discipline by the Commission on Judicial Conduct and repeat
offenders shall be removed from office. A decision not rendered within 2
years will subject the judge to removal from office. Exceptions are
allowed for extraordinary circumstances and when a request for reassign-
ment is made to the Chief Administrative Judge. The Clerk of the Court
shall report all untimely decisions to the Commission on Judicial
Conduct. Judges are prohibited from interfering with the Clerk's
performance of this duty.
JUSTIFICATION:
Any practicing litigator has experienced extreme delays in obtaining
judicial decisions. 4 years of delay is not unheard of in some Courts.
It should be noted that many Courts have no difficulty rendering deci-
sions in 3 months or less from submission. The disparity between judges
is unreasonable.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021/22: A3086 referred to judiciary
2019/20: A344 referred to judiciary
2017/18: A2503 referred to judiciary
2015/16: A701 referred to judiciary
2014/15: A8408 referred to judiciary
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
On the first of the year following the date of passage.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
998
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STECK, TANNOUSIS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to the timeliness of
judicial decisions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 49 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 49. Timely judicial decisions. 1. A judge shall render decisions on
4 motions and issue non-jury verdicts in a timely manner.
5 2. Timely is defined as being no later than nine months from the date
6 the parties have fully submitted the matter for the judge's consider-
7 ation.
8 3. The failure to make a timely decision shall be considered miscon-
9 duct. The clerk of the court shall refer any untimely decisions to the
10 commission for consideration of possible discipline of the judge.
11 4. A judge shall not interfere with the clerk's duty to transmit such
12 information to the commission. Any such interference may subject a judge
13 to removal from office.
14 5. The commission shall remove from office any judge found to be in
15 violation of this section more than five times, and may issue such less-
16 er penalties as it deems appropriate for less numerous violations.
17 6. A judge shall be removed from office for failure to render a deci-
18 sion on a motion or a non-jury verdict within two years from the date
19 the parties have fully submitted the matter for the judge's consider-
20 ation.
21 7. With respect to matters currently pending before a judge which have
22 not been decided within the time limit set forth in subdivision six of
23 this section, the judge shall have six months to render a timely deci-
24 sion. If a decision is not rendered within such time, all penalties set
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02528-01-5
A. 998 2
1 forth in this statute shall apply, including the penalty prescribed in
2 subdivision six of this section.
3 8. A judge may be excused from compliance for extraordinary circum-
4 stances as such are determined by the commission or when a judge has
5 requested that the chief administrative judge transfer the matter to
6 another judge when such judge has a good faith basis for believing such
7 judge cannot decide the matter in a timely fashion.
8 § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2027.
