Filed Date: 2/24/1981
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Milton L. Epstein, Esq. City Attorney, Beacon
You ask whether the provision of the State Constitution that no person may assume the office of Judge of a city court (outside the City of New York) who has not been admitted to practice law in the State for at least five years (N.Y. Constitution, Art
All judges of courts in the unified court system, except justices of village and town courts, are required to be attorneys admitted to practice in the State (ibid.). Justices of town and village courts who are not attorneys admitted to practice in the State are required to complete a course of training and education (id., Art VI, § 20 [c]).
In Matter of Storace,
In agreeing with the petitioner's position, the Appellate Division reasoned that the admission to practice and training requirements of section 20 (a) and (c) of the State Constitution insure that all judges in the unified court system have either a legal background or training (town and village justices who are not attorneys) to qualify them for office (id., p 220). The Court held that the constitutional requirement of admission to practice for a "judge" of a "city court" should be read broadly to include any judge serving a city, regardless of official title. It was decided that the justice of the peace of the City of Rome was a "judge" of a "city court" subject to the qualifications of section 20 (a). To have decided otherwise would exempt some judges from any experience or training requirements, a result the Court did not believe is contemplated by the State Constitution.
The holding in Matter of Storace, supra, is determinative of the question you raised. We conclude that a person who has not been admitted to practice law in the State for at least five years may not assume the office of assistant city judge.