N.Y. JUD Law § 4
This is the official text of N.Y. JUD Law § 4, part of New York’s JUD Law — part of the compiled statutory law of New York, published by the state as "JUD Law." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Sittings of courts to be public
Official statutory text
§ 4. Sittings of courts to be public. The sittings of every court\nwithin this state shall be public, and every citizen may freely attend\nthe same, except that in all proceedings and trials in cases for\ndivorce, seduction, rape, assault with intent to commit rape, bastardy,\nfiliation, or a crime formerly defined in sections 130.50, 130.45, and\n130.40 of the penal law, the court may, in its discretion, exclude\ntherefrom all persons who are not directly interested therein, excepting\njurors, witnesses, and officers of the court.\n
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in New York?
Find a New York lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.