Notice and Order – Public Access in the Supreme Court and Appellate Division – Relaxation of Court Rules; Requirement for a Filing Party to Certify to the Absence of Confidential Information in Publicly Filed Documents

As announced in a September 3, 2024 notice to the bar, the Judiciary is enhancing transparency and improving public access to the court system, including through the posting of publicly filed briefs for cases being argued before the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division of the Superior Court, as well as livestreaming of arguments before the Appellate Division.

In furtherance of this effort, the Court in the attached October 15, 2024 Order has relaxed and supplemented Rule l :38 ("Public Access to Court and Administrative Records") and Rule 2:6-9 ("Inadequate Appendix or Brief'), so as to require a party who files a document or pleading in a public court matter in the Supreme Court or in the Appellate Division to certify to the court that the submission contains no confidential information or confidential personal identifiers. Further, to support the timely posting of briefs and motion briefs in the Appellate Division, the Court has relaxed Rules 2:6-1 ( c) ("Binding; Table of Contents"), 2:6-6(a) ("Contents"), and 2:8-l(a) ("Contents; Form of Brief and Appendix").

The Court's interim relaxation of these Court Rules is effective immediately and pending further review and action.

Questions about filings in specific appellate cases should be directed to the Clerk's Office for the court in which the matter is pending, as follows:

Office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court: 609-815-2955
Office of the Clerk of the Appellate Division: 609-815-2950

In addition to these and other efforts to expand public access to proceedings in the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division, the Court continues to assess public access to certain proceedings in the trial courts.