Bill Text: NJ AR17 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges New Jersey Supreme Court to adopt rules to expedite child custody proceedings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-05-26 - Filed with Secretary of State [AR17 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-AR17-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Urges New Jersey Supreme Court to adopt rules to expedite child custody proceedings.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Assembly Resolution urging the New Jersey Supreme Court to adopt Rules of Court concerning adjudication of certain child custody proceedings.
Whereas, Our courts have a special responsibility to safeguard the interests of a child who is at the center of a custody or parenting time dispute; and
Whereas, Our State Supreme Court has held that in a custody or parenting time dispute, adjudication of the controversy between the two parties is secondary to the court's concern for the child; and
Whereas, Adopting certain changes to the Rules of Court would reduce the duration of certain custody and parenting time disputes, and would, therefore, provide greater protection to children who are at the center of these disputes; and
Whereas, Although courts are encouraged to give priority to cases in which certain issues, such as custody or parenting time, is a principal issue, there is no explicit requirement to prioritize these cases. In fact, backlog guidelines established by the New Jersey Supreme Court for all dissolution and all non-dissolution family court matters are the same, regardless of whether custody or parenting time is an issue; and
Whereas, Reducing the backlog guidelines for dissolution and non-dissolution matters in which custody and parenting time is an issue could accelerate the resolution of these matters; and
Whereas, In its most recent report, the Family Practice Committee of the New Jersey Supreme Court concluded that while, generally, non-dissolution matters for child support and custody can be heard and resolved expeditiously, certain non-dissolution matters are more complex and require additional oversight which the Rules of Court do not currently provide; and
Whereas, The Family Practice Committee also concluded that in non-dissolution matters which require extended discovery, extended expert evaluations, or have some material complexity that cannot be adjudicated in a summary manner, additional case management may be required; and
Whereas, The Family Practice Committee has advised that continuing oversight of complex non-dissolution matters is necessary to ensure that the issues will be resolved promptly and thoroughly; and
Whereas, The Family Practice Committee has recommended that case management orders entered in these complex matters should differ from those entered in other non-dissolution matters, and should provide for additional oversight; and
Whereas, The Rules of Court require screening of any case in which custody and parenting time is an issue, and require that any case in which there is a genuine and substantial issue be referred to mediation. However, the Rules do not currently require that a case be referred to mediation within a certain amount of time; and
Whereas, The Rules of Court currently provide that, unless good cause is shown, the mediation process must be concluded within two months of referral; and
Whereas, Custody and parenting time disputes in which mediation is deemed appropriate could be expedited by the adoption of a Rule requiring any case in which there is a genuine and substantial custody or parenting issue be immediately referred to mediation; and
Whereas, A presumption that a judge who has presided in the Family Part for a period of less than six months shall not be reassigned could provide consistency which is beneficial to children who are the subject of custody and parenting time disputes; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Supreme Court of New Jersey is respectfully requested to facilitate expedited adjudication of disputes in which custody and parenting time is an issue by adopting Rules of Court which:
a. Direct that disputes in which custody or parenting time is an issue shall be immediately screened, and cases in which there is a genuine and substantial issue shall be immediately referred to mediation.
b. Prohibit either party, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, from unnecessarily extending, postponing or otherwise unnecessarily delaying a proceeding in which custody or parenting time is an issue.
c. Provide that when reassignment of a judge is deemed necessary, there shall be a presumption that a judge who has been assigned to the Family Part shall not be reassigned unless he has presided over Family Part cases for a period of at least six months.
d. Provide for modification of backlog guidelines to reflect shorter time periods for resolution of dissolution and non-dissolution matters in which custody and parenting time is an issue.
e. Direct that non-dissolution custody and parenting time matters which cannot be adjudicated summarily shall be designated as complex.
f. Require that case management orders entered in complex matters involving custody and parenting time issues shall provide for additional oversight.
2. Copies of this
resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the
Clerk of the General Assembly to the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices
of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and the Administrative Director of the New
Jersey Courts.
STATEMENT
This resolution respectfully requests that the New Jersey Supreme Court adopt changes to the Rules of Court which would accelerate the adjudication of custody and parenting time disputes.
New Jersey courts have a special responsibility to safeguard the interests of a child who is at the center of a custody or parenting time dispute. Consistent with this responsibility, our State Supreme Court has emphasized that in a custody or parenting time dispute, adjudication of the controversy between two parties is secondary to the court's concern for the child. While our Judiciary has acknowledged this responsibility, adoption by the Supreme Court of changes to the Rules of Court and administrative policies would further reduce the duration of such disputes, and would provide even greater protection to these children.
Although the Judiciary has indicated the need to resolve custody and parenting time disputes more expeditiously than other family court disputes, the backlog guidelines are identical for all dissolution matters and for all non-dissolution matters, regardless of whether these matters involve custody and parenting time issues. In order to more effectively fulfill the court's responsibility to protect children in custody and parenting time disputes, shorter backlog guidelines for matters in which custody and parenting time is an issue should be established.
Under the current Rules of Court, case management of all non-dissolution disputes is identical, regardless of whether custody or parenting time is an issue. In its most recent report, the Supreme Court's Family Practice Committee indicated that, generally, non-dissolution matters for child support and custody can be heard and resolved expeditiously. However, the committee concluded that certain non-dissolution matters are more complex and require additional oversight which is not currently provided for in the Rules of Court.
The Family Practice Committee also concluded that in non-dissolution matters which require extended discovery, extended expert evaluations or have some material complexity that cannot be adjudicated in a summary manner, additional case management may be required. In order to avoid undue delay of cases, the Family Practice Committee recommended that non-dissolution matters which cannot be heard summarily should be designated as complex.
The Family Practice Committee also concluded that continuing oversight of complex non-dissolution matters is necessary to ensure that the issues will be resolved promptly and thoroughly. Therefore, case management of these complex matters should differ from those entered in other non-dissolution matters and should provide for additional oversight.
The Rules of Court currently require screening of cases in which custody and parenting time is an issue, and require that a case in which there is a genuine and substantial issue is referred to mediation. The Rules currently require, unless good cause is shown which would warrant additional time, the mediation must be concluded within two months of referral. While the Rules note the benefit of mediation as the initial court event in certain cases, the Rules do not currently require that a case be referred to mediation within a certain amount of time. Amending the Rules to require immediate referral of cases in which there is a genuine and substantial custody or parenting issue would expedite such a matter, and therefore benefit any child who is at the center of such a dispute by reducing their exposure to the adversarial process.
The New Jersey Constitution grants the Chief Justice the authority to assign judges to the Divisions and Parts of the Superior Court, and to transfer Judges from one assignment to another as needed. It is the sponsor's belief that families, and in turn children who are subject to custody and parenting time disputes, would benefit from greater consistency in the judges who preside over their case. This resolution urges the New Jersey Supreme Court to adopt a presumption that a judge who has presided in the Family Part for a period of less than six months shall not be reassigned.
