New York Supreme Court
It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil jurisdiction, with most criminal matters handled in County Court.
[3] The Supreme Court also hears civil cases involving claims for equitable relief, such as injunctions, specific performance, or rescission of a contract, as well as actions for a declaratory judgment.
The court also has exclusive jurisdiction over "Article 78 proceedings" against a body or officer seeking to overturn an official determination on the grounds that it was arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable or contrary to law.
[5] At English Common Law, the lord chancellor, not as a part of his equitable jurisdiction, but as the king's delegate to exercise the Crown's special jurisdiction, had responsibility for the custody and protection of infants and the mentally incapacitated.
Upon the organization of the Supreme Court in New York the Legislature transferred so much of the law as formed a part of the king's prerogative to it.
In 1993, Administrative Judge Stanley S. Ostrau established pilot Commercial Parts in the New York County Supreme Court.
[11] The Commercial Division has expanded to the 8th District (located in Buffalo), and the Albany, Bronx, Kings, Nassau, Onondaga, Queens, Suffolk and Westchester County Supreme Courts.
[31] Appellate terms are located in the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments only, representing Downstate New York.
[43] Opinions of the New York trial courts are published selectively in the Miscellaneous Reports.
[citation needed] The number of justices of the Supreme Court in each New York Supreme Court judicial district (including justices assigned to the Appellate Division) is set forth by the New York State Constitution.
Once a decade, the state Legislature may increase the number of justices in any judicial district, but Article VI of the state Constitution sets a population-based cap on the number of justices in each district, based on census data.
[50] Sometimes, the parties cross-endorse each other's candidates, while at other times they do not and incumbent judges must actively campaign for re-election.
[51] In practice, most of the power of selecting justices belongs to local political party organizations, such as the Kings County Democratic County Committee (Brooklyn Democratic Party), which control the delegates.
[52] The process was challenged in litigation which ultimately resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in N.Y. State Board of Elections v. Lopez Torres (2008), in which the justices unanimously upheld the constitutionality of New York's judicial election system.
[48] However, an elected Supreme Court Justice may apply for a "certification" from the Office of Court Administration (OCA) to continue in office, without having to be re-elected, for three two-year periods, until final retirement at the end of the year in which the Justice turns 76.
[54] In 2020, for example, OCA denied certification to 46 of the 49 judges who applied for it, citing budget cuts and a hiring freeze.
