Is an OATH hearing the same as Criminal Court?
No, as these are two separate entities.
OATH (also known as the ECB) is the City’s central, independent administrative law court. OATH has two divisions: the OATH Trials Division and the OATH Hearings Division. This is the court you will be dealing with when you receive a Notice of Violation (NOV).
Receiving merely a summons to have an OATH hearing means that you do not have to appear in Criminal Court. There is no jury of any sort within the Trials Division. OATH’s Administrative Law Judges are appointed to serve five-year terms, as a means of fairly judging a case.
It is, however, possible to receive a Criminal Court summons because of your building. If there are seriously hazardous conditions,
How can I tell which is which by looking at the summons?
The top of a Criminal summons will say “The People of the State of New York vs.” at the top of the document.
Find out more about the OATH process here.
