S338 • 2025

Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Jamaal Bailey
Last action: 2026-06-05
Official status: In Senate Committee
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language

Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language 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.

What This Bill Does

Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language 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.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-06-05 Senate
COMMITTED TO RULES
2026-02-09 Senate
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
2026-02-05 Senate
2ND REPORT CAL.
2026-02-04 Senate
1ST REPORT CAL.239
2026-01-07 Senate
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
2025-06-13 Senate
COMMITTED TO RULES
2025-05-22 Senate
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
2025-05-21 Senate
2ND REPORT CAL.
2025-05-20 Senate
1ST REPORT CAL.1198
2025-01-08 Senate
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY

Official Summary Text

Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language
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.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           338

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                                    I N  S E N A T E

                                       (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