The Ministry of Justice has been undertaking a first principles review of the Courts (Remote Participation) Act 2010.
The Government decided to review the Act in December 2023 as part of its 100-Day-Plan commitment to enable more virtual participation in court proceedings. The review is part of a wider work programme to improve the efficiency, timeliness and performance of the courts system.
The key objective is to achieve a modern, fit-for-purpose regime that increases remote participation, supports access to justice and promotes efficiency in courts in a way that is consistent with the interests of justice.
The Act provides a framework for determining when court users can attend remotely by audio-visual or audio links instead of in-person.
The Act is unclear in places, and it has not kept up with evolving court practices and attitudes to remote technology. It also has not been substantially reviewed since it became law 14 years ago.
The Ministry of Justice ran a five-week consultation process, which closed on 6 December 2024. Feedback was sought on options for change related to three areas: what a remote participation Act should apply to; how decisions about participating remotely should be made; and when remote participation should be used.
The feedback received informed the policy proposals that progressed to Cabinet. On 1 September 2025, Cabinet agreed to replace the Act with a new legislative framework to enable more remote participation use. This will involve developing a new high-level enabling Act, supported by Court Rules setting out which court events will take place remotely and which court events will take place in person by default. The Ministry of Justice and the judiciary will work together to develop the Court Rules. The Court Rules will draw on the recently published remote participation judicial protocols.
Work on the draft Bill and Court Rules is underway.
The discussion document remains available on the Ministry’s consultation hub Citizen Space:
Review of Courts (Remote Participation) Act 2010 consultation(external link)
For further information email: courtspolicy@justice.govt.nz
Cabinet paper and minute: Review of the Courts (Remote Participation) Act 2010 - Release of discussion document [PDF, 345 KB]
Cabinet paper and minute: Review of the Courts (Remote Participation) Act 2010 - policy approvals [PDF, 545 KB]
Ministerial media release: Modernising courts to fix what matters for victims and justice(external link)
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