AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE ONE TRIAL SYSTEM FOR CIVIL CASES IN CERTAIN COUNTIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 358 of the acts of 1996 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 1 of chapter 142 of the acts of 2000, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 2. Section 2 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 2 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 3. Section 3 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 3 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 4. The first paragraph of section 4 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 4 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 5. The second paragraph of said section 4 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 5 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 6. The first sentence of the first paragraph of section 5 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 6 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 7. The first sentence of the second paragraph of said section 5 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 7 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 8. The first paragraph of section 6 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 8 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 9. The first sentence of section 7 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 9 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 10. The first paragraph of section 8 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 10 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 11. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph of said section 8 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 11 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 12. The last sentence of said fourth paragraph of said section 8 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 12 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 13. The fifth paragraph of said section 8 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 13 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 14. The fourteenth paragraph of said section 8 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 14 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 15. Section 9 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 15 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 16. The first sentence of section 10 of said chapter 358, as appearing in section 16 of said chapter 142, is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 17. The second sentence of said section 10 of said chapter 358, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 18. Section 11 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 17 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 19. Section 12 of said chapter 358 is hereby amended by striking out the words "Norfolk, Middlesex, Berkshire and Essex", inserted by section 18 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk.
SECTION 20. Said chapter 358 is hereby further amended by striking out sections 13, 14 and 15, as amended by section 19 of said chapter 142, and inserting in place thereof the following 3 sections:-
Section 13. This act shall be implemented by the chief justice for administration and management of the trial court and shall be effective in Norfolk and Middlesex counties for a period of 98 months commencing on July 1, 1996. It shall be effective in Berkshire and Essex counties for a period of 48 months commencing on September 1, 2000. It shall be effective in Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Nantucket counties for a period of 29 months commencing on April 1, 2002. It shall apply only to civil actions commenced on or after the aforesaid effective dates for the respective counties. Commencement of such actions shall be defined by Rule 3 of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure and Rule 2 of the Uniform Summary Process Rules.
Section 14. After August 31, 2004, civil cases pending or initiated in district courts in Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk counties in which the parties have not elected, as of the date of the expiration, either a trial by a jury of 6 or a trial by a court without a jury, shall be conducted pursuant to the General Laws and shall not be subject to this act; provided, however, that civil cases pending in those counties as of the date of the expiration in which the parties have elected either a trial by a jury of 6 or a trial by a court without a jury, shall continue to be conducted in accordance with this act.
Section 15. The chief justice for administration and management of the trial court, in consultation with the chief justices for the superior court and the district court departments, shall prepare and file with the supreme judicial court and with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives and the house and senate committees on ways and means, an interim report on the implementation of this act, on or before August 31, 2003 and a final report on said implementation on or before October 31, 2004. The reports shall provide detailed information concerning the status and effect of implementation of this act including, but not limited to, any costs incurred as a result of the implementation as well as a statistical analysis of the disposition of civil cases conducted pursuant to this act which indicate, for each district court and superior court in Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket and Norfolk counties, the total number of cases entered, the number of cases disposed before trial, the number of cases tried by a jury of 6, the number of cases tried by a court without a jury and the average time between entry and disposition of cases in each category.
SECTION 21. This act shall take effect upon its passage.