Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Justice

27 September 2013 Media Statement
Claim of deadline for judgments wrong

Justice Minister Judith Collins says Andrew Little’s claim she will impose a three month deadline on court judgments is wrong.

“There has never been any suggestion from me or the Law Commission to impose a three-month deadline on judgments,” Ms Collins says.

In its report ‘Review of the Judicature Act 1908’ The Law Commission suggested monthly reporting of all reserved judgments.

As part of the Government’s proposed changes to the Judicature Act 1908, Ms Collins intends to work with the judiciary to get all written judgments published online, unless there is good reason not to, and to provide more information on the delivery of reserved judgments.

“As part of the Government’s proposed changes to the Judicature Act 1908, I expect each Head of Bench for the Employment Court, the Environment Court; the Maori Land Court; the District Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court to publish their own protocols about what is a reasonable time to deliver judgments and to provide information on how to obtain information about reserved decisions.

“The concept of judicial independence is something I take very seriously – however judicial independence relates to what is in the judgment, not whether we have one.”

ENDS

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