What's happening
This bill requires New York judges to issue decisions within specific timeframes, with disciplinary actions for repeated or significant delays.
Why it matters
Establishes strict deadlines for judges to issue decisions on motions and non-jury verdicts, aiming to improve court efficiency and reduce the backlog of undecided cases.
Classifies failure to meet these deadlines as judicial misconduct, triggering mandatory referrals for potential disciplinary action and, for repeated violations, automatic removal from office.
Empowers court clerks to report untimely decisions directly, with explicit protections against judicial interference—making the reporting process more transparent and less susceptible to internal pressure.
Allows for exceptions only in extraordinary circumstances or when a judge proactively seeks a transfer for good cause, balancing accountability with flexibility in genuinely difficult situations.
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Who cares
Judges
The bill would set a nine-month deadline for motion decisions and non-jury verdicts, with discipline for delays and mandatory removal for more than five violations or a decision delayed beyond two years, subject to specified exceptions.
Court clerks
Clerks would have to refer untimely decisions to the commission for possible judicial discipline, and judges could face removal for interfering with that duty.
Parties awaiting court decisions
Litigants would gain deadlines measured from full submission, with a six-month window for judges to decide pending matters already beyond the two-year limit.
Chief administrative judge
Judges could seek an exception by requesting transfer of a matter when they have a good-faith basis to believe they cannot decide it on time.
Headline styles
Enforce Timely Judicial Decisions
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to judiciary
- Referred to judiciary
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
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 Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 49 to read as follows:
§ 49. Timely judicial decisions. 1. A judge shall render decisions on motions and issue non-jury verdicts in a timely manner.
2. Timely is defined as being no later than nine months from the date the parties have fully submitted the matter for the judge's consideration.
3. The failure to make a timely decision shall be considered misconduct. The clerk of the court shall refer any untimely decisions to the commission for consideration of possible discipline of the judge.
4. A judge shall not interfere with the clerk's duty to transmit such information to the commission. Any such interference may subject a judge to removal from office.
5. The commission shall remove from office any judge found to be in violation of this section more than five times, and may issue such lesser penalties as it deems appropriate for less numerous violations.
6. A judge shall be removed from office for failure to render a decision on a motion or a non-jury verdict within two years from the date the parties have fully submitted the matter for the judge's consideration.
7. With respect to matters currently pending before a judge which have not been decided within the time limit set forth in subdivision six of this section, the judge shall have six months to render a timely decision. 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
forth in this statute shall apply, including the penalty prescribed in subdivision six of this section.
8. A judge may be excused from compliance for extraordinary circumstances as such are determined by the commission or when a judge has requested that the chief administrative judge transfer the matter to another judge when such judge has a good faith basis for believing such judge cannot decide the matter in a timely fashion.
§ 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2027.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.