Industrial action on Wednesday 19 September - Courthouses to close
District and High courthouses and tribunal offices across New Zealand will be closed to the public from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Wednesday 19 September. Public counters will also generally be closed from 10.30am to 12.30pm.
The Ministry of Justice has decided to close courthouse and tribunal offices because members of the Public Service Association have decided to strike between those hours.
Apart from the Auckland High Court, which is hearing a limited number of matters, all other High and District Court registries will be closed to the public from 10.30am to 12.30pm. All public counters in these courts will be closed.
All District Court matters set down for the morning will be rescheduled to future dates. The court will contact defendants, witnesses and other parties with the new hearing dates and times.
However, arrest courts will operate at the following District Courts between 9am and 10.15am to deal with overnight arrests:
- Auckland District Court
- Manukau District Court
- Christchurch District Court
- Waitakere District Court
- North Shore District Court
- Hamilton District Court
- Tauranga District Court
- Rotorua District Court
- Palmerston North District Court
- Wellington District Court
- Whāngarei District Court
- Dunedin District Court
- Hutt Valley District Court, and
- Porirua District Court.
All Disputes Tribunal and Tenancy Tribunal hearings will be adjourned until the afternoon. Public counters will be closed.
District and High Courts will begin hearing matters from 2:15pm.
The Ministry’s Contact Centre (0800 268 787) will continue to operate, however, there will be delays in answering calls and receiving responses to calls placed to offices.
For information about specialist courts, contact the Contact Centre (0800 268 787).