News

Case Review Hearings Guidelines 

The Chief District Court Judge, His Honour Judge Taumaunu, has released the finalised Case Review Hearings Best Practice guidelines. 

His Honour notes that the guidelines were developed feedback over a period of months and included feedback from the profession.

The guidelines set out the judicial approach to ensure the case is in the best state before trial. That will result in greater certainty for defendants and witnesses, in that the trial will be well prepared, more likely to proceed on the day it is scheduled and can be heard without delay.

The Court is working on a range of initiatives to improve timely access to justice across the District Court. An improvement to the case review hearing process provides the greatest scope to schedule Judge Alone trials more effectively.

The guidelines are in operation in the Auckland and Waitakere District Courts and will be implemented in the rest of the country on 1 August. His Honour comments that the Court has already seen significant improvement in the timeliness of case review hearings in the Auckland District Court, which can in part be attributed to the guidelines.