1 State - People - Authorities - 16 Judicial Organization - Lawyers and Notaries - 162 Judicial Authorities - Section 1: General Provisions

This regulation addresses the organization and functioning of the District Court (art. 6, et seq. OJN), as well as the Regional Courts (art. 98a, et seq. OJN).

1. As long as the special law referred to in Article 8 OJN has not been adopted, the jurisdictions of the Court of First Instance are those referred to in Articles 98a and following OJN, to which the present regulation expressly refers.

2. The site or sites of each Regional Court are established in accordance with Article 98b, paragraph 3 OJN.

3. Each site organizes itself freely and decides, in particular, whether the judges assigned to it handle all matters or are entrusted with portfolios comprising only certain matters. The board, in the sense of Article 9, arbitrates and settles disputes (Article 11, para. 2, letter c), if necessary with the collaboration of the administrative commission of judicial authorities.

1 The District Court comprises the following bodies

- the domain coordinators.

2. To fulfill their tasks, the magistrates of the District Court rely on the court registry (Art. 62 OJN), the organization and responsibilities of which are specified below, as well as on the court clerks (Art. 60, ff OJN).

1 The conference is composed of permanent judges.

2. It is presided over by the president of the panel, who simultaneously holds the responsibilities outlined in Article 10, paragraph 1. In their absence, the deputy president of the panel, representing the administrative commission of judicial authorities, assumes the role.

3. Extraordinary deputy judges, clerks, and clerk-drafters may be invited to attend with an advisory voice.

1. The conference is convened by the presidency or at the request of five permanent judges.

2. It meets as often as required by the matters at hand, but in principle once a year.

3. It is validly constituted if the majority of its members are present.

4. It can make decisions by way of circulation.

5. Minutes are recorded by the board of all sessions as well as decisions made by way of circulation.

The Conference

a) appoints - on the proposal of each site - the college, its president and its deputy as per Article 10;

b) appoints the domain coordinators;

c) proposes its representatives to the various commissions of the State Council and the Grand Council and appoints its representatives to the different working groups;

d) proposes its representatives to the Judicial Council to the Judicial Conference;

e) records the general distribution of subjects, decided in conformity with Article 2 paragraph 3;

f) after consulting the concerned site, advises the Judicial Council on requests for leave and changes in the workload of its members, as well as on the creation of new magistrate positions (Art. 41 LMSA) [2];

g) adopts the opinion of the District Court when consulted by the administrative commission of the judicial authorities or other authorities;

h) manages all matters of the District Court that are not assigned to another body.

1. Decisions are made by a simple majority of the members present when a vote is held.

2. Each ordinary magistrate has one vote, regardless of their level of activity.

3. The chairperson votes, and in the event of a tie, their vote counts double.

4. In the case of a circular vote, only the members who respond are considered present.

5. The judge personally or professionally concerned by a conference decision must withdraw during the debate and vote, after providing the necessary explanations. In case of doubt regarding a situation of recusal, the body decides.

1. Designations are conducted by secret ballot if there are multiple candidates or if a member requests it.

2. The candidate who has obtained an absolute majority of the valid votes cast is validly designated, without taking blank or null votes into account in the calculation of the majority.

3. In the absence of an absolute majority as defined in paragraph 2, a second round is held. The candidate obtaining the highest number of votes wins.

4. In the event of a tie, the decision is made by lot.

6. The candidate must withdraw during the debate and the voting.

1. The panel is composed of three permanent judges.

2. Its members are appointed for a period of two years. The term of the president is renewable a maximum of two times.

3. In the absence of a candidate to assume the presidency, the conference appoints a member of the District Court to this function, taking into account seniority within it. A magistrate who has already served on the administrative commission of judicial authorities, presided over the Judicial Council, or who would be subject to retirement under Article 7a of the LMSA before the end of the term, may refuse their designation.

4. Each site must have at all times at least one representative on the panel. The site proposes its candidate for appointment by the conference, in accordance with Article 6, letter a.

The President of the Bench, or in their absence, their Deputy, represents the Local Court before the Administrative Commission of Judicial Authorities.

1. The college is the internal management body of the District Court.

2. Its responsibilities notably include

a) convening the conference of the District Court and preparing its sessions;

b) sending requests for extraordinary replacements to the Judicial Council and for internal replacements to the administrative commission of the judicial authorities, as needed;

c) arbitrating and resolving, in case of a dispute between judges at either location, the distribution of cases among permanent judges, based on the general allocation recorded by the conference, as well as any other organizational or miscellaneous disputes (allocation of offices, scheduling of hearing days, etc.);

d) participating in the procedure for the appointment by the administrative commission of judicial authorities of the clerk and the deputy clerk;

e) ensuring, with the clerk of the site, a liaison between all clerical staff and the judges of the District Court;

f) exercising, jointly with the secretary-general and the clerk of the site, surveillance over the clerk's office, meeting with a delegation at least once every six months;

g) appointing, from among the permanent judges, the referees for the drafting clerks and trainee lawyers of the District Court;

h) ruling on requests for access to official documents concerning the activities of the District Court, as per Article 32, paragraph 1 LTAE [3];

i) transmitting to the administrative commission of the judicial authorities, after consulting with the conference and the clerk's office, the draft of the annual report concerning the activity of the District Court;

j) participating, by delegation and if necessary referring to domain coordinators, in the recruitment of administrative staff and drafting clerks.

1. The board shall meet whenever matters require, but in principle at least once per semester.

2. It may make decisions by way of circulation.

The Magistrates' Court includes the following areas

f) enforcements and bankruptcies (releases, bankruptcies, receiverships, and compositions).

1. The conference shall appoint from among its members a coordinator for each field for the canton. The same magistrate may be the coordinator for multiple fields.

2. In the absence of a candidate willing to assume the role of field coordinator, the conference shall appoint a member of the District Court to this function, taking into account seniority within the court. A magistrate who has already been a coordinator for the same field or who serves on the board may refuse the appointment.

3. The term of the mandate is two years. The coordinator may subsequently be designated for another field.

4. Field coordinators report on their activities and convey their concerns at each conference meeting, as outlined in Article 5.

Domain Coordinators, after consulting with the active judges in the relevant domain

a) Promote uniform application of procedural rules and fee schedules;

b) Serve as liaisons with the site secretary responsible for updating and creating IT models;

c) Rule on requests for disqualification of domain judges, aside from legal reasons (e.g., due to workload), if necessary with arbitration by the panel;

d) Prepare responses to consultations concerning their domain for the Conference (art. 6, lit. g);

e) Convene meetings of the domain judges when deemed necessary;

f) Inform domain judges about continuing education offers;

g) Prepare a draft annual report for the panel regarding the activities carried out by their domain;

h) Submit their domain's decisions to the BDJ/RJN Commission for publication in the RJN or on the judiciary's website pages;

i) Submit proposals for the purchase of books.

1. In the event of actual or foreseeable incapacity for work, the concerned magistrate shall inform the administrative commission of the judicial authorities and the college.

2. Initially, the college communicates the information to the conference and, in collaboration with the relevant domain coordinators, examines the possibilities for internal substitution.

3. Except in cases of maternity, during the first six weeks of absence in principle, for a position corresponding to a full-time equivalent, the cases of the absent magistrate are - in principle and subject to other recent assignments - distributed among the other magistrates of the relevant domains.

1. If the incapacity for work is prolonged or if the distribution envisaged in Article 16, paragraph 3 cannot be implemented, the college shall examine, in collaboration with the domain coordinators, the possibilities of internal substitution by increasing the workload of the permanent judges or part-time clerk-drafters. If necessary, it submits a proposal to this effect to the administrative commission of the judicial authorities.

2. If internal substitution cannot be implemented or proves insufficient, the college shall submit, after consulting the concerned magistrates and informing the administrative commission of the judicial authorities, a request for extraordinary substitution to the Judicial Council.

The college ensures to inform the conference of the steps undertaken and communicates to it the decisions made by the administrative commission of the judicial authorities and the Council of the Judiciary.

1. Upon returning, the magistrate who has been absent reviews the status of ongoing cases with their deputies.

2. They submit to the board a status report of the cases for which they consider that the deputization should continue. However, in principle, there is no extension of the deputization, and the incumbent resumes all cases, even those already started.

3. The board then forwards the request for extension to the administrative commission of judicial authorities, which will contact the Judicial Council if necessary for cases of extraordinary deputization.

4. In the event of an extension of the deputization, the concerned magistrate supervises the work of the deputies if necessary.

1. This regulation shall enter into force on January 1, 2020.

2. It shall be published in the Official Gazette, on the website of the judicial authorities, and included in the systematic collection of Neuchâtel legislation.