S 338: Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language; requires parties to demonstrate their understanding of the nature and effect of such documents.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 338 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. BAILEY, JACKSON, KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judici- ary AN ACT to amend the New York city civil court act, in relation to requiring certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The New York city civil court act is amended by adding a 2 new section 2105 to read as follows: 3 § 2105. Languages in which certain court documents are to be 4 furnished. (a) Court documents provided to parties including court 5 orders and any other court documents which include stipulations direct- 6 ing action to be taken or forborne by either of such parties shall be 7 provided to such parties in their native language, provided they are not 8 fluent in English; and provided, further, that such native language is 9 one of the six most prevalent languages, other than English, spoken in 10 the city of New York. 11 (b) The person who drafts such a court document in the native language 12 of a party, pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, shall provide 13 the court with a copy of the document in both English and in the native 14 language, and shall certify under oath that the document in the native 15 language accurately reflects the same document written in English. 16 (c) All parties shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the court, 17 their comprehension of the nature and effect of each such court order or 18 stipulation. 19 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 20 it shall have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00227-01-5