New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings

OATH adjudicates for all city agencies unless otherwise provided for by executive order, rule, law or pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. OATH is composed of the:{{cite web|title=Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings|access-date=2016-02-07|author=New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/oath/html/home/home.shtml}}New York City Charter § 659(a); "There shall be an independent board of standards and appeals located within the office of administrative trials and hearings. The board of standards and appeals shall consist of five members to be termed commissioners to be appointed by the mayor each for a term of six years."

• Trials Division (OATH Tribunal)
• New York City Loft Board
• Hearings Division
• Environmental Control Board Hearings (Environmental Control Board, ECB), for hearings conducted on summonses for quality of life violations issued by the
• Department of Sanitation (which accounts for two-thirds of ECB summonses{{cite news|title=City summonses on the rise despite de Blasio promises|first=Rich|last=Calder|date=August 9, 2016|work=New York Post|url=https://nypost.com/2016/08/09/city-summonses-on-the-rise-despite-de-blasio-promises/}})
• Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) has jurisdiction over disputes between businesses and the DCA or consumers, as well as some licensing cases that originate with the Business Integrity Commission, the NYPD, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the FDNY
• NYPD
• Department of Buildings
• FDNY
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for rodent, pest, mosquito and water cooling towers
• Department of Environmental Protection
• Department of Parks and Recreation
• Business Integrity Commission
• Landmarks Preservation Commission
• Health and Consumer Hearings (Health Tribunal), for hearings conducted on summonses issued by the
• Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
• Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
• Taxi and Vehicle for Hire Hearings (Taxi and Limousine Tribunal), for hearings conducted on summonses for TLC rules and regulations violations issued by the
• Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC)
• NYPD
• Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• {{Anchor|New York City Board of Standards and Appeals}}Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), for hearings on
• applications for zoning variances and special-use permits
• appeals of proposals denied by the Buildings, Fire or Business Services departments
• applications from the Buildings and Fire departments to modify or revoke certificates of occupancy

The Environmental Control Board (ECB) is composed of thirteen members: the chairperson is the OATH Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), six are commissioners of city agencies, six are citizens who are experts in the fields of water pollution control, business, real estate and noise but includes two general citizen representatives.{{cite web|title=Environmental Control Board|publisher=Center for New York City Law|url=http://archive.citylaw.org/ecb/|access-date=26 December 2016}} Although the ECB is empowered to impose penalties under the New York City Charter and has promulgated penalty schedules, the ECB is in the process of repealing all penalty schedules in its rules so that they can be relocated to the rules of the enforcement agencies with primary rulemaking and policymaking jurisdiction with the expertise to adopt appropriate penalties to address violations, and help clarify to the public that OATH ECB is a neutral third party that hears and tries cases brought by other City agencies and is not an enforcement agency.[http://rules.cityofnewyork.us/content/oath-ecb-proposed-repeal-noise-code-penalty-schedule OATH ECB Proposed Repeal of the Noise Code Penalty Schedule][http://rules.cityofnewyork.us/content/oath-ecb-proposed-repeal-parks-penalty-schedule OATH ECB Proposed Repeal of Parks' Penalty Schedule]

Unlike state criminal courts (such as the New York City Criminal Court), OATH does not guarantee a right to counsel,{{cite news|title=Another downside to the council's 'broken windows' fix emerges|first=Rosa|last=Goldensohn|date=15 January 2016|work=Crain's New York Business|url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20160125/BLOGS04/160129922/another-downside-to-the-councils-broken-windows-fix-emerges}} a fine is the most serious outcome, and a failure to appear results in a default judgment not an arrest warrant.{{cite news|title=Public Urination in New York Becomes Test Case for Policing|first1=Matt|last1=Flegenheimer|first2=J. David|last2=Goodman|date=15 July 2015|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/nyregion/public-urination-in-new-york-becomes-test-case-for-policing.html}} When an individual or business is fined and does not attend a hearing of the Environmental Control Board (ECB) or pay within the required time period, the ECB adds a penalty and oversees interest.{{cite news|title=Amnesty Program Clears $150 Million Owed to City|date=December 22, 2016|first=Ben|last=Max|work=Gotham Gazette|url=http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/6685-amnesty-program-clears-150-million-fines-owed-to-the-city}}

OATH adjudicates for all city agencies unless otherwise provided for by executive order, rule, law or pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. However, except as to issues involving employee discipline, OATH hearings are the exception rather than the rule.{{cite book|title=Administrative Law Judge Reform Report|author=New York County Lawyers' Association Task Force on Judicial Selection Subcommittee on Administrative Law Judge Reform|publisher=New York County Lawyers' Association|year=2005|url=https://www.nycla.org/siteFiles/Publications/Publications184_0.pdf}} In 2003, New York City had roughly 61 city agencies employing an estimated 500 lawyers as administrative law judges and/or hearing officers/examiners. Non-OATH tribunals that also operate in New York City include:

• The city DOF Parking Adjudications Division (Parking Violations Bureau) adjudicates parking violations.{{Cite book|last=Zimmerman|first=Joseph F.|title=The Government and Politics of New York State|edition=2nd|page=232|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7914-7435-8|url=http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4596-the-government-and-politics-of-.aspx}}
• The state DMV Traffic Violations Bureau adjudicates non-parking traffic violations.
• The city Tax Appeals Tribunal adjudicates disputes regarding city-administered taxes other than real estate assessment claims, which are adjudicated by the city Tax Commission.{{cite journal|first1=Sherry M.|last1=Cohen|first2=Joanna|last2=Weiss|title=Know Your Audience: How NYC Tribunals Have Addressed Self-Represented Litigants and Increased Access to Justice|volume=29|journal=J. Nat'l Ass'n Admin. L. Judiciary|issue=2|year=2009|url=http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/naalj/vol29/iss2/3|pages=487–493}}

The New York City Criminal Court and New York City Civil Court are part of the New York State Unified Court System.

OATH was created by Mayor Ed Koch with Executive Order 32 on July 25, 1979, and by an amendment to the New York City Charter at the general election on November 8, 1988. The Board of Standards and Appeals was consolidated with OATH by an amendment to the charter effective July 1, 1991.Local law 49 of 1991 The Environmental Control Board was moved from the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection to OATH effective November 23, 2008.[http://locallaws.dos.ny.gov/sites/default/files/drop_laws_here/ECMMDIS_appid_DOS20150218075530_36/Content/090213438000d65c.pdf Local Law 35 of 2008], passed July 23, 2008, signed August 12, 2008, filed November 3, 2008 Fidel Del Valle was appointed as commissioner and chief judge of OATH by mayor de Blasio in 2014.{{cite news|title=De Blasio appoints another taxi industry favorite|first=Dana|last=Rubinstein|date=October 22, 2014|work=Capital New York|url=http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/10/8555152/de-blasio-appoints-another-taxi-industry-favorite}} Executive Order 18 of June 23, 2016 transferred all adjudications of the DCA Tribunal to OATH effective August 22, 2016.[https://a856-cityrecord.nyc.gov/RequestDetail/20160816103 OATH Final Rule - Amendment Related to DCA Adjudications]. The City Record, August 22, 2016.

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.nyc.gov/oath}}
• [http://www.nyc.gov/bsa/ Board of Standards and Appeals website]
• [http://rules.cityofnewyork.us/codified-rules?agency=OATH Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings] in the Rules of the City of New York
• [http://rules.cityofnewyork.us/codified-rules?agency=BSA Board of Standards and Appeals] in the Rules of the City of New York
• [http://www.nyls.edu/cityadmin/ CityAdmin], a collection of NYC administrative decisions from the Center for New York City Law
• {{YouTube|channel=UCCjzXTtLKxHOMRSejDzBAGA|title=ECB Monthly Board Meetings}}

{{New York City Government}}

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Law

Category:Administrative courts

Category:1979 establishments in New York City

Category:Courts and tribunals established in 1979

Category:State administrative law in the United States