100 year old court legislation in for overhaul

  • Judith Collins
Justice

Justice Minister Judith Collins has today unveiled the Government’s proposals towards modernising the legal framework for many of New Zealand’s courts.

The proposals are in response to recommendations made by the Law Commission in its recent report Review of the Judicature Act 1908: Towards a new Courts Act.

Ms Collins says the changes will help enhance public confidence in the justice system.

“These changes are important because they will improve the flexibility, responsiveness and transparency of the court system.

“The Judicature Act, the District Courts Act and the Supreme Court Act provide much of the legislative framework for our courts system. But the Judicature Act was put in place more than 100 years ago. Over that time, it has been amended often and other related Acts have been put in place alongside it.

“As a result, understanding the arrangements and set-up of our courts is unnecessarily difficult. That’s why we’re changing this outdated and inaccessible legislation,” Ms Collins says.

The Government plans to make a number of changes to courts legislation including:

  • replacing the Judicature Act and Supreme Court Act with a Senior Courts Act
  • repealing the District Courts Act and re-enacting it as a modernised District Court Act
  • taking steps to improve and clarify rights to access court record information, for example, statistical information about court cases and expenditure
  • making the processes and criteria for appointing judges more transparent by requiring the judicial selection and recommendation process to be published by the Attorney-General
  • enabling specialist panels of judges to be assigned to hear particular types of cases in the High Court
  • improving flexibility for the court to limit vexatious proceedings, and
  • extending the District Court’s jurisdiction to allow it to deal with civil cases where the amount in dispute is up to $350,000, rather than the current threshold of $200,000.

“Work on clarifying access to court record information will allow the Ministry of Justice to produce more aggregate information on court and judicial performance, improving transparency.

“The Government is still considering whether publishing lists of reserved judgments is the most appropriate approach. We are continuing to consult with the judiciary, and are reviewing how overseas jurisdictions report reserved judgements.

“Modernising the legislation underpinning our key courts is one of a number of changes this Government is making towards a more modern, accessible, people-centred justice system.

“These changes complement the other transformational initiatives already underway including changes to criminal procedure, a new courts service delivery model, and reforming the Family Court,” Ms Collins says.

The Government will introduce a new Courts Bill to implement the changes later this year.