STAND. COM. REP. NO 428

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                

 

RE:    S.B. No. 144

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 144 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO JURY TRIAL,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the threshold value in controversy requirement for jury trials in civil cases at common law from $5,000 to $10,000.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that this measure may assist in lessening the burden on Circuit Courts with matters not involving large sums of money.  Your Committee further finds that increasing the threshold value may lessen costs to the parties involved because a jury trial in Circuit Court can be more expensive than a bench trial in District Court.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting language that requires this measure to become effective upon ratification of a constitutional amendment to increase the threshold value in controversy requirement and inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 144, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 144, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

 

 

 

____________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair