All of New Jersey's municipal courtrooms will be closed for the day on Monday, Dec. 9 for mandatory full-day training for judges in the areas of sexual assault, domestic violence and handling other sensitive matters.

There will be no proceedings conducted in any municipal court on that day due to distance and logistics, though the municipal courts will remain open that day on their regular schedules for all other purposes, according to Judge Glenn A. Grant, acting administrative director of the courts.

Grant signed the notice of the mandatory training date on Oct. 30.

The closure includes both daytime and evening court sessions, as the training will not conclude until the end of the business day on Dec. 9, the notice said.

Directive #14-19 was issued last July 17. It announced the "New Jersey Judiciary Enhanced Education and Training Initiative." The Initiative focuses on enhancing the "existing training for judges in the areas of sexual assault, domestic violence, implicit bias and diversity."

The directive indicated that there would be a "mandatory full-day educational conference" focusing on those areas.

State court judges completed their daylong training on Oct. 28 under the same directive. No Superior Court proceedings were conducted, other than emergent matters to be handled by the designated emergent duty judges. The courts did stay open for all other purposes.

Like municipal court, the mandatory training for state court judges was to gain a better understanding of ways to handle sexual assault and other sensitive issues before them.

The directive, issued by state Supreme Court Justice Stuart Rabner on behalf of the court, came after a series of high-profile incidents involving state court judges who were criticized as insensitive and out-of-touch in their remarks to alleged rape victims.

In one such case, the state Supreme Court on July 17 announced it would consider the removal of Superior Court Judge John Russo Jr. from the bench for ethics violations in allegedly asking a rape victim if she tried to block her body parts or close her legs during a sexual assault.

On the same day the Supreme Court announced Russo's possible removal from the bench, Rabner issued a lengthy statement that, in part, announced that enhanced training for judges in dealing with sexual assault, domestic violence, bias and diversity would be mandated.

Russo is fighting his potential removal and sought to have Rabner recuse from the matter based on the chief justice's July 17 statements, though the motion was denied.