Court buildings in Christchurch remain closed.

Interim arrangements are in place to hold District Court
services essential to support law and order. These include arrest
courts, remand appearances, urgent Family Court applications and
bail matters.

All non essential High Court matters set down for this week and
next week will be adjourned.

Arrangements are being made for dealing with essential High
Court matters. These include Bail applications, bail appeals, Habeas
Corpus, urgent judicial reviews, applications for urgent relief, and
criminal appeals.

Until further notice applications for any High Court matters may
be lodged in the Wellington registry of the High Court by post or email.

A local Ministry response team is operating from Christchurch
Men’s Prison to provide overarching management and coordination.

Court fixtures scheduled in Timaru, Ashburton, Rangiora and
Kaikoura will not go ahead this week.

All High and District Court Judges have been accounted for and
are safe.

Anyone summoned for jury service in Christchurch this week is
not required to attend.

There is a 24-hour freephone number for anyone with questions or
concerns relating to court matters, fines or any other Justice service -
0800 324 627.

Further media updates will be issued as new information comes to
hand.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>