S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 10972 I N A S S E M B L Y May 20, 1998 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Weinstein) -- (at request of the Office of Court Administration) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules and the judiciary law, in relation to authorization of pilot programs permitting use of facsimile transmission or electronic means to commence an action or special proceeding and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- ______________________________________________________________________ bly, do enact as follows: _________________________ 1 Section 1. Section 304 of the civil practice law and rules, as amended 2 by chapter 606 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows: 3  304. Method of commencing action or special proceeding. An action 4 is commenced by filing a summons and complaint or summons with notice. 5 A special proceeding is commenced by filing a notice of petition or 6 order to show cause and a petition. Where a court finds that circum- 7 stances prevent immediate filing, the signing of an order requiring the 8 subsequent filing at a specific time and date not later than five days 9 thereafter shall commence the action. For purposes of this section, and 10 for purposes of sections two hundred three and three hundred six-a of 11 this chapter, filing shall mean the delivery of the summons with notice, 12 summons and complaint, notice of petition or order to show cause to the 13 clerk of the court in the county in which the action or special proceed- 14 ing is brought or any other person designated by the clerk of the court 15 for that purpose together with any fee required as specified in rule 16 twenty-one hundred two of this chapter for filing. Notwithstanding any ___________________ 17 other provision of law, such delivery may be accomplished by facsimile ________________________________________________________________________ 18 transmission or electronic means, as defined by subdivision (f) of rule ________________________________________________________________________ 19 twenty-one hundred three of this chapter, where and in the manner ________________________________________________________________________ 20 authorized by the chief administrator of the courts by rule. At [such] ______________________________________________________________ 21 the time of filing, the [original and a copy of such] filed papers shall ___ _____ 22 be date stamped by [a] the clerk of the court [clerk] who shall file ________________ 23 [the original] them and maintain a record of the date of the filing and ____ 24 who shall [immediately] return [the] forthwith a date stamped copy, ___________________________ _ EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets _______ [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15122-02-8 A. 10972 2 1 together with an index number, to the filing party [who brought the __________________________________ ______ 2 filing]; provided, however, that where filing is by electronic means, _________________________________________________________________ 3 the clerk shall, in accordance with rules promulgated by the chief ________________________________________________________________________ 4 administrator, forthwith notify the filing party of the index number and ________________________________________________________________________ 5 the date and time of filing. ___________________________ 6  2. Rule 2101 of the civil practice law and rules is amended by 7 adding a new subdivision (g) to read as follows: 8 (g) Service by electronic means. Each paper served or filed by elec- ______________________________________________________________________ 9 tronic means, as defined by subdivision (f) of rule twenty-one hundred ________________________________________________________________________ 10 three of this article, shall be capable of being reproduced by the ________________________________________________________________________ 11 receiver so as to comply with the provisions of subdivisions (a) through ________________________________________________________________________ 12 (d) of this rule. _________________ 13  3. Paragraphs 5 and 6 of subdivision (b) of rule 2103 of the civil 14 practice law and rules, paragraph 5 as amended by chapter 244 of the 15 laws of 1990 and paragraph 6 as added by chapter 478 of the laws of 1989 16 and as renumbered by chapter 244 of the laws of 1990, are amended to 17 read as follows: 18 5. by transmitting the paper to the attorney by [electronic means] 19 facsimile transmission, provided that a facsimile telephone number [or _______________________ _________ 20 other station or other limitation, if any,] is designated by the attor- 21 ney for that purpose. Service by [electronic means] facsimile trans- ________________ 22 mission shall be complete upon the receipt by the sender of a signal _______ 23 from the equipment of the attorney served indicating that the trans- 24 mission was received, and the mailing of a copy of the paper to that 25 attorney. The designation of a facsimile telephone number [or other _________ 26 station for service by electronic means] in the address block subscribed 27 on a paper served or filed in the course of an action or proceeding 28 shall constitute consent to service by [electronic means] facsimile _________ 29 transmission in accordance with this subdivision. An attorney may change ____________ 30 or rescind a facsimile telephone number [or address designated for ____________________ 31 service of documents] by serving a notice on the other parties; or 32 6. by dispatching the paper to the attorney by overnight delivery 33 service at the address designated by the attorney for that purpose or, 34 if none is designated, at the attorney's last known address. Service by 35 overnight delivery service shall be complete upon deposit of the paper 36 enclosed in a properly addressed wrapper into the custody of the over- 37 night delivery service for overnight delivery, prior to the latest time 38 designated by the overnight delivery service for overnight delivery. 39 Where a period of time prescribed by law is measured from the service of 40 a paper and service is by overnight delivery, one business day shall be 41 added to the prescribed period. "Overnight delivery service" means any 42 delivery service which regularly accepts items for overnight delivery to 43 any address in the state[.];or ___ 44  4. Subdivision (b) of rule 2103 of the civil practice law and rules 45 is amended by adding a new paragraph 7 to read as follows: 46 7. by transmitting the paper to the attorney by electronic means where ______________________________________________________________________ 47 and in the manner authorized by the chief administrator of the courts by ________________________________________________________________________ 48 rule. _____ 49  5. Subdivision (f) of rule 2103 of the civil practice law and rules, 50 as added by chapter 461 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as 51 follows: 52 (f) Definitions. For the purposes of this rule: 53 1. "Mailing" means the deposit of a paper enclosed in a first class 54 postpaid wrapper, addressed to the address designated by a person for 55 that purpose or, if none is designated, at that person's last known A. 10972 3 1 address, in a post office or official depository under the exclusive 2 care and custody of the United States Postal Service within the state; 3 2. "Facsimile transmission" means any method of transmission of docu- __________________________________________________________________ 4 ments to a facsimile machine at a remote location which can automat- ________________________________________________________________________ 5 ically produce a tangible copy of such documents; _________________________________________________ 6 3. "Electronic means" means any method of transmission of information __ 7 between [two] computers or other machines designed for the purpose of __________________ 8 sending and receiving such transmissions, and which [results in the 9 fixation of] allows the recipient to reproduce the information transmit- ______ __________________________ 10 ted in a tangible medium of expression. 11  6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the chief administra- 12 tor of the courts, with the approval of the administrative board of the 13 courts, may promulgate rules authorizing an experimental program in 14 which actions and special proceedings in supreme and county court may be 15 commenced in one or more counties by facsimile transmission or by elec- 16 tronic means. Such rules must specify such county or counties, provided 17 that: (1) the number of such counties in which commencement by facsimile 18 transmission is authorized may not exceed one in each judicial depart- 19 ment of the state, and (2) commencement by electronic means may not be 20 authorized in more than one county in the city of New York and one coun- 21 ty outside the city of New York. For purposes of this section, "facsim- 22 ile transmission" and "electronic means" shall be as defined by subdivi- 23 sion (f) of rule 2103 of the civil practice law and rules. 24  7. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new 25 section 8023 to read as follows: 26  8023. Payment of fee by credit card. Notwithstanding any provision ______________________________________________________________________ 27 of law to the contrary, a party may pay any of the fees specified in ________________________________________________________________________ 28 subdivision (a) of section eighty hundred eighteen, subdivisions (a) and ________________________________________________________________________ 29 (c) of section eighty hundred twenty and section eighty hundred twenty- ________________________________________________________________________ 30 two of this chapter, and any of the fees specified in articles eighteen, ________________________________________________________________________ 31 eighteen-A and nineteen of the New York city civil court act, the ________________________________________________________________________ 32 uniform district court act and the uniform city court act, respectively, ________________________________________________________________________ 33 by means of a credit card or similar device; provided, however, notwith- ________________________________________________________________________ 34 standing any other provision of law, any party paying a fee hereunder in ________________________________________________________________________ 35 such manner also may be required to pay a reasonable administrative fee. ________________________________________________________________________ 36 The amount of such fee and the time and manner of its payment shall be ________________________________________________________________________ 37 in accordance with the system established pursuant to paragraph (j) of ________________________________________________________________________ 38 subdivision two of section two hundred twelve of the judiciary law. ___________________________________________________________________ 39  8. Paragraph (j) of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judiciary 40 law, as amended by chapter 805 of the laws of 1987 and as relettered by 41 chapter 316 of the laws of 1988, is amended to read as follows: 42 (j) Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the 43 contrary, establish a system for the posting of bail in court and the 44 payment of fines and court fees by credit card or similar device. In ______________ 45 establishing such system, the chief administrator shall seek the assist- 46 ance of the state comptroller who shall assist in developing such system 47 so as to ensure that such funds shall be returned to [the] any jurisdic- ___ 48 tion which, by law, [is] may be entitled to them. The chief administra- ______ 49 tor shall periodically accord the head of each police department or 50 police force and of any state department, agency, board, commission or 51 public authority having police officers who fix pre-arraignment bail 52 pursuant to section 150.30 of the criminal procedure law an opportunity 53 to have the system established pursuant to this paragraph apply to the 54 posting of pre-arraignment bail with police officers under his or her 55 jurisdiction. A. 10972 4 1  9. Not later than April 1, 2002, the chief administrator of the 2 courts shall submit to the legislature, the governor and the chief judge 3 of the state a report evaluating the experiment authorized by this act 4 and containing recommendations for further legislation. 5  10. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 6 the authority of the chief administrator of the courts to promulgate the 7 rules authorized by section 304 and paragraph 7 of subdivision (b) of 8 rule 2103 of the civil practice law and rules, as amended by section one 9 and as added by section four of this act, respectively, shall expire 10 July 1, 2002 when upon such date the provisions of such sections shall 11 be deemed repealed.