Uniform Rules 202.8-b

[Jomega Gibson]

(a) Terms of court. A term of court is a four-week session of court, and there shall be 13 terms of court in a year, unless otherwise provided in the annual schedule of terms established by the Chief Administrator of the Courts, which also shall specify the dates of such terms.

(b) Parts of court. A part of court is a designated unit of the court in which specified business of the court is to be conducted by a judge or quasi- judicial officer. There shall be such parts of court as may be authorized to be established from time to time by the Chief Administrator of the Courts.

In addition to complying with the applicable provisions of CPLR 2101, every paper filed in court, other than an exhibit or printed form, shall contain writing on one side only, and if typewritten, shall have at least double space between each line, except for quotations and the names and addresses of attorneys appearing in the action, and shall have at least one-inch margins.

All papers for signature or consideration of the court shall be presented to the clerk of the trial court in the appropriate courtroom or clerk's office, except that where the clerk is unavailable or the judge so directs, papers may be submitted to the judge and a copy filed with the clerk at the first available opportunity. Where a court does not employ a clerk for at least part of every business day and where the clerk is unavailable on the day when it is necessary to submit papers timely, papers may be submitted by regular mail accompanied by an affidavit of service, or by facsimile or electronic mail and a copy filed with the clerk at the first available opportunity, and will be considered filed upon the date of mailing or when the papers are successfully delivered by facsimile or email. All papers for any judge that are filed in the clerk's office shall be promptly delivered to the judge by the clerk. The papers shall be clearly addressed to the judge for whom they are intended and prominently show the nature of the papers, the title and the identification number of the accusatory instrument or instruments by which defendant is charged, the name of the assigned judge, if any, the name of the attorney or party submitting them and the return date of any motion to which the papers refer.

Each attorney appearing in a criminal action is required to file a written notice of appearance on or before the time of the attorney's first appearance in court or not later than 10 days after appointment or retainer, whichever is sooner. The notice shall contain the attorney's name, office address and telephone number, the name of the person on whose behalf he or she is appearing, and the identification number of the accusatory instrument or instruments by which such person is charged.

(a) All court clerks employed in court parts devoted in whole or in part to the disposition of criminal actions, and such other employees as the judge presiding therein may designate in accordance with section 105 of the Uniform District Court Act, section 105 of the Uniform City Court Act, section 109 of the Uniform Justice Court Act and section 23(1) of the New York City Criminal Court Act, are authorized to administer oaths, take acknowledgments and sign the process of the court under the seal thereof.

(b) Copies of written authorizations to administer oaths required by section 58 of the New York City Criminal Court Act to be filed with the New York City Criminal Court are to be filed with the chief clerk thereof.

The forms set forth in Chapter VI of Subtitle D of this Title, designated "Forms for use in courts exercising criminal jurisdiction," shall be the official forms of those courts and shall, in substantially the same form as set forth, be uniformly used throughout the State.

(a) In all criminal causes, whenever a pre-sentence probation report is submitted to the court, such report shall contain information bearing upon the eligibility of the defendant to obtain a certificate of relief from forfeitures and disabilities under article 23 of the Correction Law and shall further contain a recommendation as to the appropriateness of granting such discretionary relief at the time sentence is pronounced. Whenever a defendant has been sentenced to a period of probation, and has not received such discretionary relief, and if such defendant is apparently eligible for consideration of such discretionary relief, the probation officer supervising such defendant, prior to the termination of the probation period, shall inform the defendant, of his right to make application to the court for a certificate of relief from disabilities, and shall provide such defendant with the required forms in order to enable him or her to make application to the court if he or she should wish to do so.

(b) In all criminal causes, whenever a defendant who is eligible to receive a certificate of relief from disabilities under article 23 of the Correction Law is sentenced, the court, in pronouncing sentence, unless it grants such certificate at that time, shall advise the defendant of his or her eligibility to make application at a later time for such relief.

(a) General. Except as the Chief Administrator of the Courts may otherwise provide, all criminal actions in Supreme Court and in County Court shall be heard and disposed of in accordance with an individual assignment system.

(b) Arraignment-conference part. The Chief Administrator of the Courts may authorize the establishment of an arraignment-conference part for any superior court. Where an arraignment-conference part has been established, upon commencement of a criminal action in the superior court, the action shall be assigned to such part. The judge presiding therein shall arraign the defendant and hear and determine any bail application. If no plea of guilty is entered within 14 calendar days of the defendant's arraignment, or if the judge presiding determines that it is unlikely that a plea of guilty will be entered, the action shall be assigned to a judge as provided in subdivision (c) of this section. If a plea of guilty is entered within such time period, the action shall remain in the arraignment-conference part for sentencing and any further proceedings therein.

(c) Assignment of actions to individual assignment judges. Except as provided in subdivision (b) of this section, upon commencement of a criminal action in the superior court, the action shall be assigned to a judge by the clerk of the court in which it is pending pursuant to a method of random selection authorized by the Chief Administrator. The judge thereby assigned shall be known as the "assigned judge" with respect to such action and, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (d) of this section, shall conduct all further proceedings therein.

(d) Exceptions.
(1) Where the requirements of matters already assigned to a judge are such as to limit the ability of that judge to handle additional cases, the Chief Administrator may authorize that new assignments to that judge be suspended until the judge is able to handle additional cases.

(2) The Chief Administrator may authorize the assignment of one or more special reserve trial judges. Such judges may be assigned matters for trial in exceptional circumstances where the needs of the courts require such assignment.

As soon as practicable after the assignment of an action to an individual assignment judge, the assigned judge shall conduct a preliminary conference. The matters to be considered at such conference shall include establishment of a timetable for completion of discovery and filing and hearing of motions, fixing a date for commencement of trial, and consideration of any other matters that the court may deem relevant. At the conclusion of the conference, the directions by the court to the parties and any stipulations by counsel shall be placed on the record or incorporated in a written court order. In the discretion of the court, failure of a party to comply with these directions shall result in the imposition of such sanctions as are authorized by law. The court may direct the holding of additional preliminary conferences as may be needed.

There shall be a grand jury drawn and impaneled for such terms of a superior court as may be provided on the annual schedule of terms established by the Chief Administrator of the Courts. Whenever the public interest requires, additional grand juries may be drawn and impaneled as authorized by the Chief Administrator.

(a) An indictment pending in the Supreme Court at a term held in a county outside the City of New York may, prior to entry of a plea of guilty thereto or commencement of a trial thereof, be removed to the County Court of such county.

Any party filing with a superior court an application for appointment of a special district attorney, pursuant to section 701 of the County Law, shall make the application to the Chief Administrator of the Courts or to an appropriate Deputy Chief Administrative Judge. The Chief Administrator, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge, or appropriate Administrative Judge shall assign a superior court judge to consider the application as provided by law, selected from a list of judges established for that purpose that has been approved by the Chief Administrator and the Presiding Justice of the appropriate Appellate Division.

In all criminal actions on an indictment, prosecutor's information, information, or simplified information the court shall issue an order to prosecution and defense counsel that, inter alia, (1) confirms the prosecutor=s disclosure obligations pursuant to Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972), People v. Geaslen, 54 N.Y.2d 510 (1981), and their progeny; and (2) confirms defense counsel's professional obligation to provide effective assistance of counsel and meet defendant's statutory notice obligations. The order shall be issued on the first scheduled court date, following arraignment, where both the prosecutor and defense counsel are present. The Chief Administrator of the Courts shall promulgate a model for this purpose that the court may use as it deems appropriate.

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