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New York · Through 2026-09-11

N.Y. Judiciary Law § 5: Courts not to sit on Sunday except in special cases nor on Saturday in certain cases

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. Judiciary Law
  2. Article 2. General Provisions Relating to Courts and Judges

§ 5. Courts not to sit on Sunday except in special cases nor on

Saturday in certain cases. A court shall not be opened, or transact any

business on Sunday, nor shall a court transact any business on a

Saturday in any case where such day is kept as a holy day by any party

to the case, except to receive a verdict or discharge a jury and for the

receipt by the criminal court of the city of New York or a court of

special sessions of a plea of guilty and the pronouncement of sentence

thereon in any case in which such court has jurisdiction. An adjournment

of a court on Saturday, unless made after a cause has been committed to

a jury, must be to some other day than Sunday. But this section does not

prevent the exercise of the jurisdiction of a magistrate, where it is

necessary to preserve the peace, or, in a criminal case, to arrest,

commit or discharge a person charged with an offense, or the granting of

an injunction order by a justice of the supreme court when in his

judgment it is necessary to prevent irremediable injury or the service

of a summons with or without a complaint if accompanied by an injunction

order and an order of such justice permitting service on that day.

Furthermore, no provision of this section shall be deemed to prohibit or

prevent the conducting on Saturday and/or Sunday of any arbitration or

mediation proceeding, provided all parties and the tribunal consent to

such proceeding in writing. A writing purporting to provide consent of

any party that is not prepared by the party shall only be sufficient to

establish consent upon a finding by the tribunal by clear and convincing

evidence, that such party has affirmatively consented to such

proceedings on a Saturday or Sunday as the case may be; such finding to

be made part of the record of any further proceedings.

Collected 2026-09-14T19:32:45Z. Source file · JSON

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