Introduction to the Family Court

Welcome to the web site of the Family Court of New Zealand.

"Nau mai haere mai ki te pae tukutuku o te Kooti a Whanau o Aotearoa".

Many New Zealanders use the Family Court. The Court is called upon to make orders for children not yet born right through to older people who are in need of care and protection. Not only is the age band wide but the variety of cases that come before the Court is considerable.

New Zealanders should have good and ready access to some information about the Family Court.

Web sites have revolutionised the way we do business and gather information. I am proud of the fact that the Family Court is committed to providing user friendly information and that we join many other state agencies in being able to make this available on the web site.

Obviously you will not find answers to individual problems. What you will find is information about how the system works and how you can use the system to deal with specific issues.

The aim of this web site is to give you good information about the sort of cases that the Family Court handles, how the Court works, the basis upon which decisions are made, and how you go about applying to the Court for orders that you may need.

In addition to that though, it is important that for adults and children undergoing separation, good information about what is involved in that process and how to achieve the best result, is easily accessible. In some cases, Court orders may be sought. I refer in particular to cases of domestic violence, child abduction, protection of older people and children and where someone else is being obstructive and unhelpful.

However in most cases that come before the Family Court, good results can be negotiated and agreed if helpful information is made available on which to base decisions.

Although the Family Court is essentially a private forum, in that it deals with deeply personal and sensitive matters, the Court is nevertheless a part of our justice system. That means that the work that is done in the Court must be as open as possible and the decisions and process accountable to the public. Information on the web site, particularly relating to decisions, has been produced so as to satisfy these requirements.

Do not forget to supplement the information available on this web, with legal advice that you may wish to obtain from your own lawyer, or from Community Law Centres or Citizens Advice Bureaux.

Peter Boshier

Principal Family Court Judge

Biography of Judge Peter Boshier