New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings
| Court overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | July 25, 1979 |
| Jurisdiction | New York City |
| Headquarters | 100 Church St., New York, NY 10007 |
| Court executive |
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| Key document | |
| Website | nyc |
The New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) is an administrative court of the New York City government. It is a non-mayoral executive agency and is not part of the state Unified Court System.
Administrative trials neither preclude, nor are precluded by, criminal charges by the state and/or civil lawsuits by complainants against the respondent individuals and businesses.
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:
The Environmental Control Board (ECB) is composed of thirteen members: 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, and the final person is the chair who is the Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). 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.
Unlike state criminal courts (such as the New York City Criminal Court), OATH does not guarantee a right to counsel, a fine is the most serious outcome, and a failure to appear results in a default judgment not an arrest warrant. 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.
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