Appeals courts to expand public access by livestreaming hearings and posting briefs online

In an effort to expand transparency, New Jersey's Chief Justice Stuart Rabner has directed appellate courts to livestream hearings and post court briefs and other documents publicly online. (Getty Images)

New Jersey’s judiciary will begin livestreaming appellate hearings and publicly posting briefs filed in such cases in a pro-transparency turn enabled by new technologies, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner announced Tuesday.

The intermediate court will begin broadcasting oral arguments Monday and will be required to post complaints, responses, and reply briefs online five days ahead of such hearings unless the briefs are sealed or otherwise confidential.

“An engaged and informed citizenry improves public trust in the courts and strengthens our justice system as a whole. And as technology evolves, it affords greater opportunities to expand public access to the courts,” Rabner said in a statement.

The rules change brings a measure of transparency to influential intermediate courts that often create precedent but enjoyed laxer transparency rules than trial courts or the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Trial court documents in civil proceedings are posted onto eCourts, the judiciary’s electronic case filing and management system, and proceedings at the trial court level may be livestreamed at the judge’s discretion.

New Jersey’s Supreme Court has livestreamed oral arguments since 2005. Rabner said the judiciary would look to further expand access to “matters of public interest and importance at all levels of the court system.”

Appellate briefs were obtainable under previous court rules, but securing them generally required a direct request to court staff, and viewing appellate proceedings typically required in-person attendance at hearings.

The Judiciary already posted some briefs filed in cases scheduled to be argued Monday.

Those include a dispute over a pair of proposed warehouses between Manalapan Township and a developer, arguments over whether unlicensed lenders can act as debt collectors, and residents’ challenge to a proposed warehouse in Harrison Township.

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