In legal terms, the right of substitution is a

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

right of all parties except the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. It is the right to change the presiding court official with or without cause. Judges are usually given cases randomly within a

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

(unless there is only one judge in a jurisdiction, in which case they receive all cases). The right of substitution does not give a

litigant - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

the right to choose a judge, just the random selection of another judge in the jurisdiction. If the right is exercised in a jurisdiction with one judge usually a judge from a neighboring jurisdiction will take the case, although on occasion a Reserve Judge or

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

may be used.

Right of substitution with cause

The right of substitution, where applicable, may be exercised by

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

and juvenile

defendants In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdi ...

and all parties in a

civil action - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

. Substitution for cause can be for any bias a judge may have in the case, such as an association with a party (family, friendship or even stock ownership), having made vocal comments in the past on the topic at trial, etc. The right of substitution with cause does not have a limitation on the number of times it may be called for, such that parties may exercise the right until they find a neutral judge. Substitution with cause may be moved for at any time after a party realizes a bias exists. However many jurisdictions require the right be exercised within a certain time after the bias has been discovered by a party or else the right will be

waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. Regulatory agencies of state departments or the federal government may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United St ...

, often 30–60 days. This right rarely must be exercised by parties, as judges will usually raise the bias and

recuse Judicial disqualification, also referred to as recusal, is the act of abstaining from participation in an official action such as a legal proceeding due to a conflict of interest of the presiding court official or administrative officer. Applica ...

him or herself from a case before a party may even have known of the

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

Right of substitution without cause

The right of substitution without cause is only applicable in some US States and not in the federal court system. It is uncommon outside the United States. This right may only be used once per case whereas the right of substitution for cause may be used until a neutral judge can be found. Substitution without cause must be moved for prior to the first order by a judge. It can therefore be moved for in

civil court Civil law may refer to: * Civil law (common law), the part of law that concerns private citizens and legal persons * Civil law (legal system), or continental law, a legal system originating in continental Europe and based on Roman law ** Private la ...

after

complaint In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...

s and

answer Answer commonly refers to response to a question. Answer may also refer to: * Answer (law), any reply to a question, counter-statement or defense in a legal procedure Music * Answer, an element of a fugue Albums * ''Answer'' (Angela Aki alb ...

s have been filed but prior to the first order, often a scheduling order for

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

procedure. In criminal or juvenile courts the right may be exercised after

arraignment Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisd ...

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

but before a

preliminary hearing Within some criminal justice, criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing, preliminary examination, preliminary inquiry, evidentiary hearing or probable cause hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecuto ...

. Sometimes the motion must be made a certain number of days before the "prelim" or scheduling order is held.

References

* * Legal procedure {{Use mdy dates, date=September 2012