Structure of the New York State Court System

Working out of Albany, the unified court structure of NY operates under a judge in the appellate court. This person is referred to as the "Chief Judge" or the administrator-in-chief in the state. Interestingly, this is not the same terminology as is used in other states of the US.

In the State of New York, there are three levels of courts as follows:

•    The court where the case may be brought initially, also referred to as the "original instance court"
•    The intermediate level appellate courts
•    The final appeals court

The New York Criminal Court Structure

According to the directives of the New York state court system, the system of criminal courts in the state is headed by the Courts of Appeal (i.e. the Appellate Courts). These courts can be approached by conflicting parties, if either of them finds the rulings of the lower courts not to their liking.

Under the appellate courts lie the other legal divisions that are created by the Supreme Court of New York. The latter is, of course, the highest body of law in the State of New York. These divisions also have the authority to analyze the decisions of the courts under them.

Next, there are the courts within the different counties of New York. Property claims are looked into by a separate Court of Claims present at the county level, while cases of domestic violence are settled in the Family Courts. There are also separate criminal courts at the district level, the town level and within cities. Village courts are also present in New York.

The New York Civil Court Structure

The civil court structure in New York closely resembles the one in place for criminal cases. Once again, there are appellate civil courts, together with other courts that are established on the basis of location. Civil courts can also be classified according to the specific types of cases they hear such as probate or small claims.

The Supreme Court, of course, serves as the ‘Court of Last Resort’ in New York. All other courts of appeal are classified under the head of ‘Intermediate Capital Courts’ (including the courts at county levels). All courts present in the towns, cities and villages of the state are together classified as ‘courts of original instance.’

The courts of New York have several participants, including the contesting parties and adjudicating authorities. Hence, you can find litigants, judges, members of the jury, and the attorneys and lawyers to all be important components of the court system of the state.

Most courts of New York serve as ‘problem solving’ legal bodies. Whenever a law-related problem crops up, you can contact the concerned courthouse and pursue a settlement of the dispute at hand. As is evident, New York has one of the best maintained legal systems in all of America. The civil and criminal lawsuits are settled by separate hierarchical structure, meant exclusively for these types of cases respectively.