The Prime Minister has now announced the country will move to alert level 31 from Tuesday 28 April. 

Under alert level 3, the courts will continue to expand the types and volumes of work that they do. This will involve a mixture of in-person hearings, hearings in which some participants may appear remotely, and virtual hearings in which no one (except perhaps a Registrar who is operating the recording system) will be in a courtroom.

Vulnerable practitioners
Practitioners who are vulnerable either by age or due to health conditions should raise with the court at the earliest opportunity attendance at hearings by remote means. The courts will strive to accommodate such requests.

Hygiene
All courts continue to be cleaned to the higher standards introduced at the start of the pandemic. In addition to this, cleaning materials will also be available for practitioners to use as required on court benches, in interview rooms, AVL suites and the like. Hand sanitiser will
be readily available. Practitioners may wear their own PPE such as masks and gloves if they
wish.

Staffing constraints
There were constraints that affected the courts. The critical constraint was the capacity of the registries to accommodate staff. The Ministry has been building up staffing levels over the last few weeks to the maximum consistent with physical distancing. Other staff will work remotely. Staff numbers will continue to constrain us under alert level 3, but to a much lesser extent.

Criminal trials
The requirement for physical distancing meant that we cannot undertake jury trials and many witness actions. Jury trials pose a particular challenge. They remain suspended until 31 July 2020. Under alert level 3 courts will conduct judge-alone trials involving witnesses, who may be required to attend court. Where feasible, counsel and witnesses will be permitted to participate remotely.

Filing
Descriptions of filing arrangements for each court, and the work that will be heard at alert level 3 are set out in each court’s protocol hosted on the Courts of New Zealand website. These have been amended this week and counsel who wish to file documents or are appearing in court should take the time to read them. They contain useful information.


Access to courthouses is expected to expand The courts will be open to the public. But it is crucial that we maintain safe conditions. That is important for the public, lawyers, registry and security staff, and Police and Corrections officers who move through courthouses. It is even more important for protecting people who are being held in custody and so are particularly vulnerable in the current environment. That means that there are limits upon the numbers who can attend. Priority will be given to those who have business at court. Please check the protocols for the individual jurisdictions and talk to your clients in advance about the need to limit who can attend. Counters will be closed and drop boxes will be provided for urgent documents that are delivered by hand.

Open justice
Accredited media continue to access the courts during all alert levels including remote hearings.