Courts (Remote Participation) Amendment Bill
This bill makes it easier for people to join court hearings remotely — by video or phone call — instead of having to be physically present in court. It gives victims of crime the right to watch trials and sentencing from home or another location via video or phone if they want to. It also allows phone-only calls (not just video calls) to be used in some court hearings. And it makes permanent a rule from the pandemic period that says courts can still be open and transparent even when people join remotely.
What this affects
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Victims of crime will have a right to watch trials and sentencing by video or phone call from wherever they are, and courts can allow phone-only connections for some hearings.
a victim of an offence and any support person of the victim are entitled to observe all or part of the trial and sentencing for the offence by the use of AVL or AL
A judicial officer or Registrar may determine that AL be used instead of AVL for the appearance of the participant in the criminal procedural matter if… the defendant is not required to, and does not wish to, attend the hearing
Nothing in sections 196 to 198 limits or affects the ability of a court to conduct a hearing wholly or partly by audiovisual link (AVL) or audio link (AL) and to require some or all members of the media or the public who wish to observe the hearing to attend by AVL or AL.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Justice Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 7 March 2024.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.