The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with state-wide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The Superior Court has three divisions: the Appellate Division is essentially an intermediate appellate court while the Law and Chancery Divisions function as trial courts. Each division is in turn divided into various parts.
Like justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court, judges of the Superior Court are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate for initial terms of seven years. If reappointed before the expiration of the initial term, the judge is said to have tenure and can serve until the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70. Retired judges may be recalled to serve in courts other than the Supreme Court. Judges are assigned to the court's divisions and parts (and in the case of the Law and Chancery Divisions, to a particular vicinage) by the Supreme Court.
Contents |
The Appellate Division hears appeals from the Law and Chancery Divisions and final decisions of State administrative agencies. There are eight parts, designated "A" through "H," and each part has three or four judges. Judges are rotated among the parts on an annual basis. Unlike the federal and some other state appellate courts, appeals are not allocated among the parts on a territorial basis and Appellate Division precedent is equally binding state-wide.
One of the judges on each part is designated as the presiding judge and there is an overall presiding judge for administration. Appeals are decided by a panel of two or three judges from the part to which the appeal is assigned.
If the Supreme Court has less than seven members available to hear a case, either because of vacancies or recusals, senior Appellate Division judges may be assigned to serve temporarily.
The Appellate Division has a central clerk's office that processes the filing of notices of appeal, briefs, motions and other papers.
Appeals in New Jersey must be filed within 45 days.[1]
The Chancery Division consists of the General Equity, Probate and Family Parts.
The General Equity Part handles civil cases where the primary relief sought is equitable in nature, although it may grant incidental legal relief. In most vicinages only one judge is assigned to the General Equity Part.
The Probate Part handles contested probate matters, guardianships etc. Usually the General Equity judge handles the probate calendar on a weekly or less frequent basis. The county surrogate acts as the deputy clerk of the Superior Court for the Probate Part in the county.
The Family Part was created when the State Constitution was amended to eliminate the juvenile and domestic relations courts in each county and so it has the distinction of being the only part specifically mandated by the constitution.
The Family Part is responsible for all cases arising out of marriage (or marriage-like) relationships, juvenile matters and domestic violence cases.
The Law Division consists of the Civil, Special Civil and Criminal Parts.
The Civil Part has jurisdiction over all civil cases where the principal relief sought is legal in nature and it may grant incidental equitable relief so that a case may be fully decided in one forum.
The Special Civil Part essentially succeeded to the jurisdiction of the former county district courts. Cases may be filed in the Special Civil Part where the amount in controversy does not exceed $15,000 (or more if the plaintiff waives the excess). It also has a small claims section for cases involving less than $3000 and a landlord-tenant section to adjudicate summary dispossess actions.
Plaintiff may act as pro-se, corporations must hire an attorney for claime in excess of $3,000.
The Special Civil Part is designed to provide expedited and somewhat relaxed proceedings in smaller cases. The Special Civil Part has its own clerk in each county (rather than relying upon the Superior Court clerk's office) and many forms are available.
The Criminal Part handles all indictable criminal cases and appeals from convictions in municipal courts.
The Clerk of the Superior Court is appointed by the Supreme Court and heads the centralized clerk's office; however, most pleadings are filed in the county in which the action is venued with the Deputy Clerk, Superior Court, for the county.
For administrative purposes, the State is divided into fifteen vicinages. Most vicinages comprise a single county, but there are two vicinages that consist of two counties and two vicinages that consist of three counties. The head of judiciary in each county is the assignment judge. The General Equity, Family, Civil and Criminal Parts in each vicinage are headed by a presiding judge.
The Rules Governing the Courts of New Jersey provide for the use of certain post-nominal letters after the names of judges. Superior Court judges for whom no other designation is provided use "J.S.C." Appellate Division judges use the post-nominal letters "J.A.D." (or "P.J.A.D." in the case of a presiding judge). The Assignment Judge of a vicinage is designated "A.J.S.C." Presiding judges of trial court parts use "P.J.Ch." (General Equity), "P.J.F.P." (Family), P.J.Cv." (Civil) and "P.J.Cr." (Criminal) as appropriate.