District Court (District Court Judges) Amendment Bill
This bill raises the maximum number of District Court judges allowed in New Zealand by one — from 182 to 183 full-time judges. The District Court handles a large volume of everyday legal cases, and its workload has been growing. The extra judge is needed to handle more sentencing hearings expected to follow from a separate law change about sentencing. In practice, it means one more judge can be officially appointed to help manage the courts.
What this affects
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The bill allows one more District Court judge to be appointed, so the courts can handle more cases — particularly more sentencing hearings expected under a separate sentencing law reform.
amends section 12(1)… increases the maximum number of Judges, by 1, from 182 full-time equivalents to 183 full-time equivalents
The increase in the statutory maximum is to support the implementation of the reforms in the Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill, which will require another District Court Judge to support a likely increase in sentencing events
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 28 October 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.