New York State Government Information

decisions available online from the NYS Unified Court System.

search Supreme and Criminal court decisions, 2001-current

The New York State Law Reporting Bureau publishes all state appellate court decisions and selected trial court decisions, as well as motion decisions of the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division and Appellate Term of the Supreme Court.

There are four Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court, one in each of the State's four Judicial Departments. These Courts resolve appeals from judgments or orders of the superior courts of original jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, and review civil appeals taken from the Appellate Terms and the County Courts acting as appellate courts.

The Court of Appeals, New York State's highest court, is composed of a Chief Judge and six Associate Judges, each appointed to a 14-year term. New York's highest appellate court was established to articulate statewide principles of law in the context of deciding particular lawsuits. The Court thus generally focuses on broad issues of law as distinguished from individual factual disputes.

The New York State Court of Claims is the exclusive forum for civil litigation seeking damages against the State of New York or certain other State-related entities such as the N.Y. State Thruway Authority, the City University of New York and the N.Y. State Power Authority (claims for the appropriation of real property only).

First and Second Departments to hear appeals from civil and criminal cases originating in the Civil and Criminal Courts of the City of New York. In the Second Department, the Appellate Terms also have jurisdiction over appeals from civil and criminal cases originating in District, City, Town and Village Courts. The County Courts in the Third and Fourth Departments (although primarily trial courts), hear appeals from cases originating in the City, Town and Village Courts.