Exempts parties liable for failure to obey or enforce certain child protective, domestic relations, or domestic violence orders of protection or temporary orders of protection from limited liability provisions pertaining to non-economic loss and providing for limitation of joint liability.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5614
SPONSOR: Weinstein (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in
relation to exempting parties liable for failure to obey or enforce
certain orders of protection or temporary orders of protection in domes-
tic violence or domestic relations matters from the provisions of arti-
cle sixteen of such law, entitled "limited liability of persons jointly
liable"
PURPOSE OF BILL:
This bill would exempt parties liable for failure to obey or enforce
domestic violence orders of protection or temporary orders of protection
from limited liability provisions.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF BILL:
Adds a new paragraph to section 1602 of the civil practice law and rules
to exempt domestic violence from apportionment of non-economic damages
and restore the rule of joint liability to defendants found liable for
failure to obey or enforce an order of protection.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill re-enforces New York's zero-tolerance policy for domestic
violence. It permits a domestic violence victim to recover non-economic
as well as economic damages from any or all defendants found liable by a
court or jury, after a trial on the merits of the action. Current law,
as interpreted by the New York State Court of Appeals, does not.
New York changed the common law rules about joint and several liability
in 1986 before New York passed the 1994 Family Protection and Domestic
Violence Intervention Act (1994 Domestic Violence Act) and funded the
programs and services to prevent domestic violence and protect family
members against abuse. Under current law, multiple tortfeasors are typi-
cally liable for damages only in proportion to their liability for non-
economic losses, i.e. pain and suffering. However, there are signif-
icant exceptions to this rule currently in law, such as for liability
deriving from automobile accidents, intentional torts and environmental
hazards to name but a few. The legislature has provided, in these other
types of cases, the same exception which this bill now seeks to add for
victims of domestic violence.
This bill gives domestic violence victims civil remedies to make them
whole. It gives victims the same access to any liable defendant for full
compensation for serious psychological and social harm that the law now
allows for medical expenses and lost wages. To deny victims of domestic
violence recovery for all of the injuries that they suffer lessens the
deterrent effect of domestic violence statutes.
In the last decade New York State has enacted legislation to give force
and effect to orders of protection - a critical tool against domestic
violence. The family court act, domestic relations and criminal proce-
dure laws all have been amended to compel public intervention to prevent
domestic violence, protect against violence between family members and
to hold accountable those who abuse their families. This is a priority
for New York State. It is also important that public institutions
charged with enforcement of orders of protection be held accountable.
Each year thousands of domestic violence victims go to court in New York
State to seek justice and protection. Orders of protection, however, are
effective only if they are enforced. New York has enacted laws and
adopted policies to encourage, even mandate, police involvement in
domestic violence. The Family Court Act gives the police the authority
to investigate and arrest a person who violates an order of protection.
FCA § 168.
In fact, the 1994 Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention
Act goes further; it mandates arrest for 4olations of orders of
protection as well as felony and some misdemeanor violence among family
members. CPL § 140.10. As a result, the police have explicit authority
and a "non-delegable" responsibility to enforce court orders of
protection. It has been a long struggle to establish domestic violence
as a crime and to compel police intervention. Since 1986, much of the
legislation about domestic violence included initiatives to support and
promote enforcement of orders of protection to secure a safe environment
for families plagued by violence. This bill incorporates the spirit of
these policies into the civil procedure law and rules applicable in
personal injury cases.
This bill permits a domestic violence victim to recover damages from all
defendants found liable by a court or jury after a trial on the merits
of the action.
This bill deals only with damages after liability has been established
and accepted by a court or jury. It does not change tort laws; in negli-
gence, a plaintiff must still prove that a defendant owed her duty of
care that was breached, where the breach caused her injuries. This bill
does not change the proof required to establish liability for personal
injuries, nor does it shift the burden of such proof. Furthermore, this
bill does not remove immunity specifically granted to the police or
public officers by statute. It also does not assign liability to munici-
palities for performance of governmental functions. The bill only allows
a plaintiff who has proven her case and won damages for her injuries to
collect those damages from any and all defendants.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-18: A.1390 - PA
2015-16: A.260 - PA
2014: A.899/S.6928 - PA/S.Judiciary
2013: A.899 -PA
2012: A.2350/S.7202 - PA/S. Finance
2011: A.2350 - PA
2009-10: A.5516 (John)/S.4452 - PA/S.Codes
2007-08: A.2078 (John) - A. Cal
2005-06: A.1271 (John) - A. Cal
2003-04: A.33 (John) - A. Cal
2002: A.10497 (John) - A. Cal
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Unknown.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it becomes law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5614
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEINSTEIN, JAFFEE, PERRY, ZEBROWSKI, SEAWRIGHT,
M. G. MILLER, PAULIN, TITUS, BICHOTTE, BRONSON, TAYLOR -- Multi-Spon-
sored by -- M. of A. FAHY, GLICK, SIMON -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to exempt-
ing parties liable for failure to obey or enforce certain orders of
protection or temporary orders of protection in domestic violence or
domestic relations matters from the provisions of article sixteen of
such law, entitled "limited liability of persons jointly liable"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1602 of the civil practice law and rules is amended
2 by adding a new subdivision 14 to read as follows:
3 14. not apply to any party held liable for claims arising from the
4 failure to obey or enforce (a) an order of protection or a temporary
5 order of protection issued or modified pursuant to article four, five,
6 six, seven, eight or ten of the family court act, section 530.12 of the
7 criminal procedure law, section two hundred forty or two hundred fifty-
8 two of the domestic relations law, or (b) an order of protection or
9 temporary order of protection issued or modified by a court of competent
10 jurisdiction in another state, territorial or tribal jurisdiction.
11 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
12 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00887-01-9
