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"A New Judicial Article for New York" |
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SECTION 1. Judicial Power. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a unified judicial system consisting of the Court of Appeals, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court, and the District Court. All courts except the Court of Appeals may be divided into geographical departments or districts as provided by law. SECTION 2. Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals shall be the highest court of the State and shall consist of a Chief Judge and six Associate Judges. SECTION 3. Jurisdiction of Courts. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction in all cases except as provided by law. All other courts shall have jurisdiction as provided by law, jurisdiction shall he uniform throughout the state in all geographical departments or districts of the same court. SECTION 4. Selection of Judges. a. There shall be one Judicial Nominating Commission for all judges of the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, and one Judicial Nominating Commission within each district of the Supreme Court for all Supreme Court and District Court judges in that district. b. A vacancy in the office of judge of the Court of Appeals, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, or the Supreme Court shall be filled by the Governor from a list of three nominees presented to him by the appropriate Judicial Nominating Commission. c. A vacancy in the office of judge of the District Court within the City of New York shall be filled by the Mayor of New York from a list of three nominees presented to him by the appropriate Judicial Nominating Commission. d. A vacancy in the office of judge of the District Court outside the City of New York shall be filled by the Governor from a list of three nominees presented to him by the appropriate Judicial Nominating Commission. e. The Judicial Nominating Commission for the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court shall consist of seven members. It shall include one attorney residing within the geographical area of each department of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, who shall be selected by vote of attorneys residing in and registered with the department which he shall represent; two non-attorneys who shall be appointed by the Governor; and the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. f. The composition of all other Judicial Nominating Commissions shall be as provided by law. SECTION 5. Eligibility of Judges. No person shall be appointed to a judicial office unless he is domiciled within the State, is a citizen of the United States and is licensed to practice law in the Courts of the State. SECTION 6. Tenure of Judges. All judges shall be appointed to a ten-year term. SECTION 7. Retirement of Judges. Every judge shall retire at the age of seventy years under such terms as shall be provided by law. SECTION 8. Removal of Judges. a. A Commission on Judicial Removal shall be established, which shall consist of nine members appointed to four-year terms. The Court of Appeals shall appoint two judges of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, one judge of the Supreme Court and two judges of the District Court. The Governor shall appoint two attorneys and two non-attorneys. b. The Commission shall recommend to the Court of Appeals that any judge be removed from office who has been found by the Commission to be guilty of willful misconduct in office, willful and persistent failure to perform his duties, or habitual intemperance. The Commission shall also recommend to the Court of Appeals that a judge be removed from office who is suffering from a disability which interferes with the performance of his duties and which is, or is likely to become, of a permanent nature. The Commission may also recommend lesser sanctions and measures in appropriate cases. c. The Commission shall have the power to subpoena witnesses, make investigations, take evidence and make findings. It shall conduct its proceedings in a confidential manner up to the time that it recommends appropriate action. The Court of Appeals shall have the final power to reject or implement, with or without modifications, the recommendations of the Commission. SECTION 9. Conduct of Judges. No judge shall practice law, or engage in any political or other activity which interferes with the proper performance of his duties. The Judicial Conference shall, from time to time, promulgate binding canons of judicial ethics. SECTION 10. Administration. a. The Judicial Conference shall be vested with the authority and responsibility for the administrative supervision of the unified judicial system. The Judicial Conference shall consist of the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, as chairman, and the Presiding fudges of the departments of the Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court. b. The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals shall have the power to assign and transfer judges and proceedings and to establish surrogate, family and other parts of courts. c. Upon nomination by the chairman and approval by a majority of its members, the Judicial Conference shall appoint a State Administrator, who shall serve at its pleasure and shall perform such duties as are assigned to him. The Judicial Conference shall establish standards and administrative policies for state-wide application, and shall have the power to delegate responsibility and authority to local court administrators throughout the State. d. The Court of Appeals shall make and enforce uniform rules governing the practice of law and the professional conduct of attorneys, including uniform rules for their admission and discipline. SECTION 11. Rule-Making. a. The Judicial Conference shall have the power with the assistance of such advisory committees as it shall appoint to promulgate rules of practice, procedure and pleading, including rules of evidence, for all the courts of the State. Such rules shall be effective immediately upon promulgation. The Legislature may amend or repeal any of the rules of the Judicial Conference by a two-thirds vote of each house in the same legislative session. SECTION 12. Financing. All expenses of the unified judicial system shall be borne directly by the State. No such expenses shall he paid by any political subdivision of the State. The Judicial Conference shall establish a budget of itemized estimates of the annual financial needs of the unified judicial system, and shall certify it to the Governor who shall transmit it without change, but with his recommendations, to the Legislature. There shall be no lump sum payments in lieu of expenses to any personnel of the unified judicial system. [End] "Our duty is to save, unless in saving we pervert. When all the world can see what sensible legislators in such a contingency would wish that we should do, we are not to close our eyes as judges to what we must perceive as men. This need is all the greater in fields where the law is in a stage of transition and readjustment." —Benjamin N. Cardozo, People v. Knapp, 230 N.Y. 48 at 63, 129 N.E. 202 (1920). "There is torture of mind as well as body; the will is as much affected by fear as by force. And there comes a point where this Court should not be ignorant as judges of what we know as men." —Felix Frankfurter, Watts v. Indiana, 338 U.S. 49 (1949) at 52. |
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 The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York |