§ 214 — Chief administrator to prescribe forms; electronic filing in family court

§ 214. Chief administrator to prescribe forms; electronic filing in\nfamily court. (a) The chief administrator of the courts shall promulgate\na uniform, statewide petition for adoption and may prescribe such other\nforms as may be proper for the efficient and just administration of this\nact, including forms for petitions, summons, warrants, subpoenas,\nundertakings, and orders authorized by this act.\n (b)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the chief\nadministrator, with the approval of the administrative board of the\ncourts, may promulgate rules authorizing a program in the use of\nelectronic means ("e-filing") in the family court for: (1) the\norigination of proceedings in such court, and (2) the filing and service\nof papers in pending proceedings.\n (ii) Participation in this program may be required or may be voluntary\nas provided by the chief administrator, except that it shall be strictly\nvoluntary as to any party to an action or proceeding who is not\nrepresented by counsel unless such party, upon his or her request,\nchooses to participate.\n (c) (i) Where participation in this program is to be voluntary:\n (1) filing a petition by electronic means with the court for the\npurpose of originating a proceeding shall not require the consent of any\nother party; nor shall the failure of a party or other person who is\nentitled to notice of the proceedings to consent to participation bar\nany other party from filing and serving papers by electronic means upon\nthe court or any other party or person entitled to receive notice of\nsuch proceeding who has consented to participation;\n (2) all parties shall be notified clearly, in plain language, about\ntheir options to participate in filing by electronic means;\n (3) no party to an action or proceeding shall be compelled, directly\nor indirectly, to participate;\n (4) where a party is not represented by counsel, the court shall\nexplain such party's options for electronic filing in plain language,\nincluding the option for expedited processing, and shall inquire whether\nhe or she wishes to participate, provided however the unrepresented\nlitigant may participate in the program only upon his or her request,\nwhich shall be documented in the case file, after said party has been\npresented with sufficient information in plain language concerning the\nprogram;\n (5) upon the filing of a petition with the court by electronic means,\na party to the proceeding and any attorney for such person shall be\npermitted to immediately review and obtain copies of such documents and\npapers if such person or attorney would have been authorized by law to\nreview or obtain copies of such documents and papers if they had been\nfiled with the court in paper form.\n (ii) Where participation in this program is to be required:\n (1) such requirement shall not be effective in a court in a county\nunless the chief administrator shall:\n (A) first consult with and obtain the agreement of each authorized\npresentment agency, child protective agency, the family court bar\nproviding representation to parents, and the family court bar providing\nrepresentation to children (as represented by the head of each legal\nservices organization representing parents and/or children, the head of\neach public defender organization, and president of the local bar\nassociation as applicable) of such county, provide all persons or\norganizations, or their representative or representatives, who regularly\nappear in proceedings in the family court of such county, in which\nproceedings the requirement of consent is to be eliminated with\nreasonable notice and an opportunity to submit comments with respect\nthereto and give due consideration to all such comments, and consult\nwith the members of the advisory committee continued pursuant to\nsubparagraph (vi) of paragraph (u) of subdivision two of section two\nhundred twelve of the judiciary law; and\n (B) afford all those with whom he or she consults pursuant to clause\n(A) of this subparagraph with a reasonable opportunity to submit\ncomments with respect to the program, which comments he or she shall\nconsider and shall post for public review on the office of court\nadministration's website; and\n (C) consult with the members of the advisory committee continued\npursuant to subparagraph (vi) of paragraph (u) of subdivision two of\nsection two hundred twelve of the judiciary law; and\n (2) as provided in subdivision (d) of this section, no party who is\nnot represented by counsel nor any counsel in an affected case who opts\nout of participation in the program shall be required to participate\ntherein.\n (d) Where the chief administrator eliminates the requirement of\nconsent as provided in subparagraph two of paragraph (ii) of subdivision\n(b) of this section, he or she shall afford counsel the opportunity to\nopt out of the program, via presentation of a prescribed form to be\nfiled with the clerk of the court where the proceeding is pending. Said\nform shall permit an attorney to opt out of participation in the program\nunder any of the following circumstances, in which event, he or she will\nnot be compelled to participate:\n (i) Where the attorney certifies in good faith that he or she lacks\nthe computer hardware and/or connection to the internet and/or scanner\nor other device by which documents may be converted to an electronic\nformat; or\n (ii) Where the attorney certifies in good faith that he or she lacks\nthe requisite knowledge in the operation of such computers and/or\nscanners necessary to participate. For the purposes of this paragraph,\nthe knowledge of any employee of an attorney, or any employee of the\nattorney's law firm, office or business who is subject to such\nattorney's direction, shall be imputed to the attorney.\n Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this paragraph: (A) where\na party or a person entitled to notice of the proceedings is not\nrepresented by counsel, the court shall explain such party's options for\nelectronic filing in plain language, including the option for expedited\nprocessing, and shall inquire whether he or she wishes to participate,\nprovided however, the unrepresented litigant may participate in the\nprogram only upon his or her request, which shall be documented in the\ncase file, after said party has been presented with sufficient\ninformation in plain language concerning the program; (B) a party who is\nnot represented by counsel who has chosen to participate in the program\nshall be afforded the opportunity to opt out of the program for any\nreason via presentation of a prescribed form to be filed with the clerk\nof the court where the proceeding is pending; and (C) a court may exempt\nany attorney from being required to participate in the program upon\napplication for such exemption, showing good cause therefor.\n (e) For purposes of this section, "electronic means" shall be as\ndefined in subdivision (f) of rule twenty-one hundred three of the civil\npractice law and rules.\n (f) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, no paper or\ndocument that is filed by electronic means in a proceeding in family\ncourt shall be available for public inspection on-line. Subject to the\nprovisions of existing laws governing the sealing and confidentiality of\ncourt records, nothing herein shall prevent the unified court system\nfrom sharing statistical information that does not include any papers or\ndocuments filed with the action.\n (g) Nothing in this section shall affect or change any existing laws\ngoverning the sealing and confidentiality of court records in family\ncourt proceedings or access to court records by the parties to such\nproceedings, nor shall this section be construed to compel a party to\nfile a sealed document by electronic means.\n (h) Nothing in this section shall affect or change existing laws\ngoverning service of process, nor shall this section be construed to\nabrogate existing personal service requirements as set forth in this act\nand the civil practice law and rules.\n