(a)  Any complainant, intervener, or respondent claiming to be aggrieved by a final order of the commission may obtain judicial review thereof, and the commission may obtain an order of court for its enforcement, in a proceeding as provided in this section. The proceeding shall be brought in the superior court of the state within any county wherein the unlawful housing practices which are the subject of the commission’s order were committed or wherein any respondent, required in the order to cease and desist from unfair housing practices or to take other affirmative action, resides or transacts business.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 34-37-6

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Commission: means the Rhode Island commission for human rights created by § 28-5-8. See Rhode Island General Laws 34-37-3
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.

(b)  The proceeding shall be initiated by the filing of a petition in the court, and the service of a copy of the petition upon the commission and upon all parties who appeared before the commission. Thereupon the court shall have jurisdiction of the proceeding and of the questions determined therein, and shall have power to grant such temporary relief or restraining order as it deems just and proper, and to make and enter upon the pleadings, testimony, and proceedings set forth in the transcript an order enforcing, modifying, and enforcing as so modified, or setting aside in whole or in part the order of the commission.

(c)  An objection that has not been urged before the commission, its member, or agent shall not be considered by the court, unless the failure or neglect to urge the objection shall be excused because of extraordinary circumstances.

(d)  If either party shall apply to the court for leave to adduce additional evidence and shall show to the satisfaction of the court that the additional evidence is material and that there were reasonable grounds for the failure to adduce the evidence in the hearing before the commission, its member, or agent, the court may order the additional evidence to be taken before the commission, its member, or agent and to be made a part of the transcript.

(e)  The commission may modify its findings as to the facts, or make new findings, by reason of additional evidence so taken and filed. The commission shall file the modified or new findings and its recommendations, if any, for the modification or setting aside of its original order.

(f)  The jurisdiction of the court shall be exclusive and its judgment and order shall be, when necessary, subject to review by the supreme court as provided by law, to which court appeal from the judgment and order may be made as provided by law.

(g)  The commission’s copy of the testimony shall be available at all reasonable times to all parties without cost of examination and for the purposes of judicial review of the order of the commission. The petition shall be heard on the transcript of the record without requirement of printing.

(h)  The commission may appear in court by its own attorneys.

(i)  If no proceeding to obtain judicial review is instituted by a complainant, intervener, or respondent within thirty (30) days from the service of an order of the commission pursuant to subsection (h) of § 34-37-5, the commission or the complainant may obtain a decree of the court for the enforcement of the order upon showing that respondent is subject to the commission’s jurisdiction, and resides or transacts business within the county in which the petition for enforcement is brought.

(j)  The commission may proceed in the same manner as provided in § 28-5-13 as to the powers, duties, and rights of the commission, its members, hearing examiners, the complainant, intervener, and respondent.

History of Section.
P.L. 1965, ch. 27, § 1; P.L. 1990, ch. 398, § 1.