Bill Text: HI SB1073 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To The Judiciary.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-12-11 - Carried over to 2024 Regular Session. [SB1073 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB1073-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1073 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
The legislature further finds that at the appellate level, authorizing parties to a suit, action, or proceeding, who believe that a judge or justice presiding over their case on appeal has a disqualifying conflict of interest, to file a motion for a hearing on the judge's or justice's possible conflict of interest, would facilitate a valuable colloquy regarding impartiality, allow the judge or justice the opportunity to rebut any allegation of a disqualifying conflict of interest, and promote transparency within the State's judiciary.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Clarify that the disqualification requirements for judges also apply to justices;
(2) Establish a process by which a party before an appellate court in the State, who believes that the judge or justice presiding over their case may have a disqualifying conflict of interest, may move for a hearing on possible conflict of interest; and
(3) Prohibit the appellate court judge or justice who is subject to the motion to hear or rule on the motion but allow them to file a response or voluntarily recuse themselves from presiding over the pending action or proceeding.
SECTION 2. Section 601-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§601-7
Disqualification [of judge;] and recusal; judges and justices;
disqualifying relationship, pecuniary interest, previous judgment, and
bias or prejudice. (a) No person shall sit as a judge in any case in
which:
(1) The judge's relative by affinity or
consanguinity within the third degree is counsel, or interested either as a
plaintiff or defendant, or in the issue of which the judge has, either directly
or through [such] the relative, a more than de minimis pecuniary
interest; or
(2) The judge has been of counsel or on an appeal from any decision or judgment rendered by the judge;
provided
that no interests held by mutual or common funds, the investment or divestment
of which are not subject to the direction of the judge, shall be considered
pecuniary interests for purposes of this section; [and] provided
further that after full disclosure on the record, parties may waive
disqualification due to any pecuniary interest.
As used in the subsection, "judge" includes justice.
(b) Whenever a party to any suit, action, or
proceeding, civil or criminal, [makes and] files an affidavit that the
judge before whom the action or proceeding is to be tried or heard has a
personal bias or prejudice either against the party or in favor of any opposite
party to the suit, the judge shall be disqualified from proceeding
therein. Every [such] affidavit
shall state the facts and the reasons for the affiant party's belief
that bias or prejudice exists and shall be filed before the trial or any
hearing [of] on the action or proceeding, or good cause shall be
shown for the failure to file [it] the affidavit within [such]
that time. No party shall be
entitled in any case to file more than one affidavit[;], and no
affidavit shall be filed unless accompanied by a certificate of the affiant
party's counsel of record declaring that the affidavit is made in
good faith. Any judge may [disqualify
oneself] recuse themself by filing with the clerk of the court [of]
for which the judge [is a judge] presides, a certificate declaring
that the judge [deems oneself] is unable for any reason to
preside with absolute impartiality in the pending suit or action.
(c)
A party to any suit, action, or
proceeding, civil or criminal, in any appellate court in the State may file a
motion for a hearing on possible conflict of interest when the party believes
that any judge before whom the pending suit, action, or proceeding is to be
heard may have a disqualifying conflict of interest resulting in a personal
bias or prejudice either against the party or in favor of any opposite party to
the case. The motion shall state the
facts and reasons for the moving party's belief that bias or prejudice exists
and shall be filed before the hearing on the action or proceeding, or good
cause shall be shown for the failure to file the motion within that time. No party shall be entitled in any case to
file more than one motion for a hearing on possible conflict of interest
against a particular judge, and no motion shall be filed unless accompanied by
a certificate of the moving party's counsel of record declaring that the motion
is made in good faith. The remaining
judges on the panel or judge presiding in the court of appeal in which the pending
suit, action, or proceeding is to be heard shall hear and rule on the motion filed
pursuant to this subsection. The judge
who is the subject of the motion shall be disqualified from hearing or ruling
on the motion, but shall have the opportunity to:
(1) File a response to the motion; or
(2) Recuse themself by filing with the
clerk of the court
for which the judge presides, a certificate declaring that
the judge is unable for any reason to preside with absolute impartiality in the
pending suit, action, or proceeding.
As used in this subsection, "judge" includes justice."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Appellate Courts; Conflicts of Interest; Judges and Justices; Disqualification and Recusal
Description:
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
