IN NOVEMBER 1978, NEW JERSEY VOTERS APPROVED A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO ALLOW MERGER OF THE STATE'S COUNTY COURTS INTO THE SUPERIOR COURT. THIS WILL ELIMINATE OVERLAPPING JURISDICTIONS AND INCREASE EFFICIENCY. THE NEXT STEP IS TO UNIFY THE COURT UNDER THE SUPERIOR COURT. THE SYSTEM AS OF 1977 WAS SO FRAGMENTED THAT CHILD CUSTODY AND MATRIMONIAL CASES MAY HAVE TWO SUPPORT ORDERS IN EFFECT SIMULTANEOUSLY IN TWO JURISDICTIONS. JUDICIAL PRODUCTIVITY CONTINUED TO RISE DURING THE 1977-1978 YEAR. TOTAL CASES DISPOSED OF REACHED A RECORD HIGH OF 577,472, AN INCREASE OF 6.7 PERCENT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR. DISPOSITIONS PER FULL TIME JUDGE WERE 2,074, UP 75 CASES OVER 1976-1977 AND UP 372 CASES OR 21.9 PERCENT OVER 1972-1973. A NUMBER OF INNOVATIONS HELPED TO INCREASE THIS PRODUCTIVITY, INCLUDING SPECIAL EXPERT PANELS TO REACH OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENTS IN MALPRACTICE CASES, EARLY SETTLEMENT PROGRAMS FOR MATRIMONIAL AND CIVIL CASES, EXPEDITED HANDLING OF HABITUAL CRIMINAL CASES, AND NEW RULES REGARDING PRETRIAL MOTIONS. THE COURTS ALSO EXPERIMENTED WITH RADIO AND TELEVISION COVERAGE OF COURT PROCEDURES. IN ADDITION TO A COMPREHENSIVE STATISTICAL PRESENTATION, THE REPORT ALSO CONTAINS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH DIVISION OF THE NEW JERSEY COURT SYSTEM. (GLR)