2001 SESSION

01-0096

09/01

HOUSE BILL 624

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes a committee to study requiring mandatory ethics seminars for judges.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

01-0096

09/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Purpose.

I. The general court finds that New Hampshire is a state with a relatively small population and small bar association which, nonetheless, must maintain a full complement of courts and judges, both full-time and part-time, whose services are in ever increasing demand in recent years. As a result, friends and people with personal relationships find themselves in the same judicial forum, which can lead to difficult ethical dilemmas, including the appearance of impropriety. Therefore, and in the light of recent ethical concerns in the supreme court, review by judges of standards and requirements under the Canon of Ethics have become even more important than in prior years.

II. The general court further finds that continuing judicial education of judges is required under supreme court rule 45, but ethical "refresher" seminars are not mentioned nor required. Judges must be seen to act with the highest ethical standards in all of their proceedings in order for the people to maintain confidence in the judicial system. The decisions of judges often are of great consequence to individuals, to families and to everyone in the state, since redress or recourse is often difficult, expensive, and time consuming. Therefore, mandatory ethics "refresher" seminars are of great importance because they afford both full-time and part-time judges the opportunity to interact on practical issues of ethical concerns, perceived or real, on a reasonable but regular basis.

2 Committee Established. There is established a committee to study requiring mandatory ethics seminars for judges.

3 Membership and Compensation.

I. The members of the committee shall be as follows:

(a) Three members of the house of representatives, one of whom shall be a member of the judiciary committee, one of whom shall be a member of the education committee, and one of whom shall be a member of the finance committee, appointed by the speaker of the house.

(b) Three members of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.

II. Members of the committee shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the committee.

4 Duties. The committee shall study requiring mandatory ethics seminars for judges. As part of its study, the committee shall consider the following questions:

I. Would the judicial conduct committee or another entity oversee the development, plan, and implementation of the seminars?

II. Who would offer the seminars?

III. With what frequency would seminars be offered and required?

IV. What would the curriculum contain?

V. What judges would be required to participate?

VI. Who would pay for the seminars?

VII. What is the relationship of a proposed law requiring ethics seminars for judges and supreme court rulemaking authority (specifically supreme court rule 45)?

5 Chairperson; Quorum. The members of the study committee shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the committee shall be called by the first-named house member. The first meeting of the committee shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section. Four members of the committee shall constitute a quorum.

6 Report. The committee shall report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the senate president, the house clerk, the senate clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before November 1, 2001.

7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.