REFORMS NEEDED FOR THE TRAINING OF AND SUPPORT FOR TOWN AND VILLAGE COURT JUSTICES

New York City Bar Offers Recommendations and Assistance

( June 25, 2007) The New York City Bar Association issued two reports today with key recommendations to improve the training of town and village justices and court clerks, and to provide assistance to those courts. These recommendations can be enacted now by the Office of Court Administration, and will provide immediate improvements to the Town and Village Court System without legislative action or a constitutional amendment. The City Bar will be issuing recommendations on deeper changes to the system, but believes strongly that these interim measures will improve the current system.

New York’s Town and Village Courts have an extensive impact on the lives of New Yorkers, and the justices of those courts need not be lawyers – 72% of over 2,000 justices serving in New York State are from other backgrounds. Many justices currently operate courts without adequate knowledge of relevant laws, constitutional guarantees and legal procedures. “The Task Force research shows that many justices have insufficient knowledge of the rules of evidence, of application of legal principles, of the standards of judicial conduct, and of the administrative and fiscal responsibilities demanded of the justice courts,” says Hon. Phylis Skloot Bamberger, chair of the Task Force.

The City Bar believes that the current training regimen for these justices is inadequate, and a questionnaire prepared by the City Bar’s Task Force on Town and Village Courts, which authored the reports, found that the justices themselves have an interest in and a desire for improved training and education. This is an opportunity for the Bar to be of assistance to these justices, and utilize the extensive experience, skill, and training of its membership to improve the quality of justice across New York State.

As the office of Court Administration works on its action plan for providing better training, the City Bar recommends that its members be utilized as a part of the preparation and presentation of training programs. The City Bar should undertake, with other bar associations and similar organizations around the state as appropriate, to identify volunteer attorneys to work with the New York State Judicial Institute to prepare courses for town and village courts.

Furthermore, the City Bar recommends that the Judicial Institute establish a collaborative program for Town and Village Justices with the other major judicial organizations to continue training on court administration, fiscal responsibility, and accountability.

Finally, the report recommends that any advisory committee established to oversee the revised training programs for the justices be strictly neutral with respect to the issues that come before these courts, and in employment or association have no interest in the outcomes of cases before these courts, or alternately ensure that the committee’s membership reflect the perspectives of all potential litigants. As the committee would be formed by the state government, steps must be taken to avoid bias in favor of governmental and prosecutorial interests.

Additionally, the City Bar believes that the Resource Center of the Office of Court Administration (OCA) should be enhanced to provide sufficient support for Town and Village Court Justices. The recommendations are as follows:

• OCA should fund a sufficiently large staff of lawyers to respond promptly to the justices’ inquiries about judicial conduct; assist in evening and night-court sessions; and regularly prepare and distribute updates to the relevant laws, regulations and case law;
• OCA should fund a staff to assist the justices in town courts in carrying out their responsibilities as record keepers, finance officers, and administrators of their courts;
• Bar associations and other legal organizations around the state should prepare a list of lawyers available to answer inquiries on behalf of the justices;
• OCA should publicize the Resource Center, encouraging justices to call for assistance while emphasizing that the decisions remain their responsibility;
• Regional offices should be established, especially in areas where judges are not lawyers, to offer on-site assistance, small group training sessions and other face-to-face contact with justices;
• The Resource Center should conduct its work even if all justices are required to become lawyers, because like judges of other courts, they will need such assistance.

The full report elaborates on these recommendations and further describes the training and resource issues facing Town and Village Courts in New York today.

The full reports are available online at: www.nycbar.org/pdf/report/NYC_ECOPY23W_110911.pdf and www.nycbar.org/pdf/report/NYC_ECOPY23W.pdf.