Posted: October 26, 2011
Code of Judicial Administration
CJA 03-0101. Judicial performance standards. New. Establishes standards of performance for minimum education and cases under advisement for application by the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission. Effective October 24, 2011 under Rule 2-205. Subject to change after the comment period.
CJA 04-0704. Authority of court clerks to extend payment schedule and dismiss citations. Amend. Allows clerks to dismiss citations as permitted in the Uniform Fine/Bail Schedule.
CJA 04-0907. Mandatory divorce education. Amend. Simplifies policy on access to divorce orientation courses and divorce education courses.
I am addressing the provisions that apply to Trial Judges, 2(C)lines 21-24, although the question concerning “exceptional cases” applies to all courts.
1. What is the definintion of an “exceptional” case? Does is just mean cases under advisement? If so, why is the adjective needed?
2. The judge is unsatisfactory if he/she has more than 3 cases under advisement per calendar year for more than two months, with no more than half of exceptional cases in any one calendar year. If exceptional cases are the cases under advisement(3), how does a judge have half of a case under advisement?
3. Having just dealt with an issue of 6 months vs 180 days, I believe all references would be clearer if days were used instead of months.
4. Since the caseload and complexity has changed it would appear that the rule should recommend 4 cases a year and more than 90 days under advisement
Rules appear to prohibit the possibility of developing online educational options in the future for delivery of divorce orientation education. This is unfortunate because online options could improve the standardization of the content of the class and make the class more accessible for individuals.