By Jessica Dye

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The death of a judge recently elected to the Queens Supreme Court has created a vacancy that could be filled for up to a year by an appointment by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Justice-Elect Lawrence Cullen died on Nov. 25 after a battle with cancer. He was 64.

He was appointed to the Court of Claims by Governor George Pataki in 2006 and designated by New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman as an acting justice for the Queens Supreme Court. In November, he was elected to fill one of three vacancies on the court.

Arlene Hackel, a spokeswoman for the New York Office of Court Administration, said that the standard procedure outlined in the New York State Constitution for filling Supreme Court vacancies would be followed.

Under Article VI, Section 21(a), of the constitution, Cullen's seat would be officially filled during the next general election in November 2013, Hackel said. Until then, Governor Andrew Cuomo can designate an interim replacement, who must be approved by the New York Senate if it is in session, she said.

A representative for the governor's judicial screening committee, Katie Sherwin, said on Thursday Cuomo's office had not been officially notified by court administrators about the vacancy.

In the meantime, Cullen's cases are being handled by Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert Nahman, according to a secretary for the court's Administrative Judge Jeremy Weinstein. Nahman had been handling Cullen's cases for the last several months while he was ill.

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