Court Opinion

ID: 9715409
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:04:47.979463+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:34.844572
License: Public Domain

Rosenblatt, J. (concurring).
Although I join the Court’s opinion without reservation, I write separately to acknowledge the Appellate Division’s concern&emdash;so ardently expressed in the case before us&emdash;that Rules of the Chief Administrator of the Courts (22 NYCRR) § 127.2 (b) would divest that Court of the power to review orders of the kind involved here. Although I agree that the Chief Administrative Judge had the authority to promulgate section 127.2 (b), I note that he did so only after the Legislature did not enact 1995 NY Senate Bill S 4481. Under that bill, which was introduced at the request of the Office of Court Administration on the recommendation of the Administrative Board of the Courts, the Appellate Division would have been given authority to conduct expedited reviews of enhanced payment vouchers.* That would have satisfied the issues raised by the Appellate Division, while filling “a void in the . . . statutory framework” (Senate Introducer Mem in Support, 1995 NY *292Senate Bill S 4481), which otherwise lacked any provision for review of enhanced payment vouchers.
*291the supreme court, or to the chief administrator of the courts, any power possessed by the legislature to regulate practice and procedure in the courts. The chief administrator of the courts shall exercise any such power delegated to him or her with the advice and consent of the administrative board of the courts. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the adoption of regulations by individual courts consistent with the general practice and procedure as provided by statute or general rules.”
*292As amici, the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York and Association of Supreme Court Justices for the City of New York oppose section 127.2 (b), in part because it allows administrative judges to overrule the orders of other judges of “co-ordinate jurisdiction.” S 4481 would have also obviated that objection.
A decade ago, keenly sensitive to the viewpoint of the trial and appellate justices, the court administration sought passage of S 4481, which would have authorized review by the Appellate Division, instead of review by administrative judges. Because the Senate bill was never enacted, the Chief Administrative Judge exercised his powers to provide for administrative review, the only review he could institute without legislation. Given this background, the Legislature may wish to consider vesting the Appellate Division with the authority to review vouchers of this type, as contemplated by S 4481. In that fashion, the best of both worlds would be realized: filling a void in oversight and giving that oversight to an appellate tribunal.
Judges G.B. Smith, Ciparick, Rosenblatt, Graffeo, Read and R.S. Smith concur in per curiam opinion; Judge Rosenblatt concurs in a separate concurring opinion; Chief Judge Kaye taking no part.
Order reversed, etc.

 In pertinent part, the proposed legislation read,
*292“Any order of a trial court determining a claim for compensation or reimbursement hereunder shall he subject to review in the court having appellate jurisdiction of the action in which the claim was made upon application of the claimant or the political subdivision upon which payment of the claim is a charge. The appellate court shall provide for the expedited determination of such application and may confirm, increase, or decrease the compensation or reimbursement awarded.”