N.J. Admin. Code § 1:1-14.15

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 1:1-14.15 - Conduct obstructing or tending to obstruct the conduct of a contested case

(a) If any party, attorney, or other representative of a party, engages in any misconduct which, in the opinion of the judge, obstructs or tends to obstruct the conduct of a contested case, the party, attorney, or other representative may be fined in an amount which shall not exceed $ 1,000 for each instance.

(b) Where the conduct deemed to obstruct or tending to obstruct the conduct of a contested case occurs under circumstances which the judge personally observes and which he or she determines unmistakably demonstrates willfulness and requires immediate adjudication to permit the proceedings to continue in an orderly and proper manner:

1. The judge shall inform the party, attorney or other representative of the nature of the actions deemed obstructive and shall afford the party, attorney or other representative an immediate opportunity to explain the conduct; and

2. Where the judge determines, after providing the party, attorney or other representative, an opportunity to explain, that the conduct does constitute misconduct and that the conduct unmistakably demonstrates willfulness, the judge shall issue an order imposing sanctions.

i. The order imposing sanctions shall recite the facts and contain a certification by the judge that he or she personally observed the conduct in question and explain the conclusion that the party, attorney or other representative engaged in misconduct.

(c) Where the conduct deemed to obstruct or tending to obstruct a contested case did not occur in the presence of the judge or where the conduct does not require immediate adjudication to permit the proceedings to continue in an orderly and proper manner, the matter shall proceed by order to show cause specifying the acts or omissions alleged to be misconduct. The proceedings shall be captioned "In the Matter of _______, Charged with Misconduct."

(d) In any proceeding held pursuant to (c) above, the matter may be presented by a staff attorney of the Office of Administrative Law, or by the Attorney General. The designation shall be made by the Director of the Office of Administrative Law. The matter shall not be heard by the judge who instituted the proceeding if the appearance of objectivity requires a hearing by another judge.

N.J. Admin. Code § 1:1-14.15

Recodified in part from N.J.A.C. 1:1-14.14 and amended by R.2007 d.393, effective 12/17/2007.
See: 39 N.J.R. 2393(a), 39 N.J.R. 5201(a).
Recodified former introductory paragraph of (b) as (a); in (a), substituted a period for "provided:"; recodified former (b)1 as introductory paragraph of (b); in introductory paragraph of (b), substituted a colon for ", the"; inserted designation (b)1; in (b)1, inserted "The" at the beginning and "and" at the end; in (b)2, inserted "and that the conduct unmistakably demonstrates willfulness" and substituted a period for "which" at the end; inserted designation (b)2i; and rewrote (b)2i and (c).