In re Jacob M.

Syllabus

The respondent parents filed separate appeals to this court from the judg- ments of the trial court terminating their parental rights with respect to the minor children, N and J. N and J are the biological children of the respondent mother and J is the biological child of the respondent father. The petitions were consolidated for trial. Held: 1. The respondents could not prevail on their claim that the trial court, relying on an executive order issued by the governor in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, improperly denied their joint motion for a mistrial on the basis of the court's failure to render its judgments within 120 days of the completion of the trial as required by statute (§ 51-183b), as the time limitation in § 51-183b properly had been suspended by the executive order at the time the judgments in the present case were rendered: the General Assembly set forth in statute (§ 28-9) a policy, which the governor followed, that, upon the governor's declaration of a public health emergency pursuant to statute (§ 19-131a), the governor may suspend any statute that conflicts with the efficient and expeditious execution of civil preparedness functions or the protection of the public health, and such standards and limitations set forth by the legislature in § 28-9 (b) (1) were followed in the executive order suspending the 120 day requirement set forth in § 51-183b, and a requirement of adherence to a strict time limitation on the rendering of judgments in civil cases at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when there were critical short- ages in sanitizer and personal protective equipment, reasonably could have interfered with the health and safety of the judges of the Superior Court and courthouse staff, who reasonably would have had to enter courthouses in order to review materials and to perform tasks necessary for the rendering of civil judgments; moreover, the time limitation set forth in § 51-183b, contrary to the mother's claim, was not jurisdictional, as §