New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 22 - JUDICIARY
Subtitle B - Courts
Chapter IV - Supreme Court
Subchapter B - Second Judicial Department
Article 1 - Appellate Division
Subarticle B - Special Rules
Part 700 - Court Decorum
Section 700.5 - Obligations of the judge
Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) In the administration of justice the judge shall safeguard the rights of the parties and the interests of the public. The judge at all times shall be dignified, courteous, and considerate of the parties, attorneys, jurors, and witnesses. In the performance of his duties, and in the maintenance of proper court decorum the judge is in all respects bound by the canons of judicial ethics.
(b) The judge shall use his judicial power to prevent disruptions of the trial.
(c) A judge before whom a case is moved for trial shall preside at such trial unless he is satisfied, upon challenge or sua sponte, that he is unable to serve with complete impartiality, in fact or appearance, with regard to the matter at issue or the parties involved.
(d) Where the judge deems it appropriate in order to preserve or enhance the dignity, order and decorum of the proceedings, he shall prescribe and make known the rules relating to conduct which the parties, attorneys, witnesses and others will be expected to follow in the courtroom.
(e) The judge should be the exemplar of dignity and impartiality. He shall suppress his personal predilections, control his temper and emotions, and otherwise avoid conduct on his part which tends to demean the proceedings or to undermine his authority in the courtroom. When it becomes necessary during trial for him to comment upon the conduct of witnesses, spectators, counsel, or others, or upon the testimony, he shall do so in a firm and polite manner, limiting his comments and rulings to what is reasonably required for the orderly progress of the trial, and refraining from unnecessary disparagement of persons or issues.
(f) The judge is not relieved of these obligations by what he may regard as a deficiency in the conduct of any attorney who appears before him; nor is he relieved of these obligations by what he believes to be the moral, political, social, or ideological deficiencies of the cause of any party.
