Ministry of Justice memo re Court matters
The following information is taken from a memo prepared by the Ministry of Justice for a meeting on Friday 4 March between lawyers and officials involved in the justice sector:
The Court is operating critical and essential services only, for the next 2 weeks minimum, ie, arrests only and in-custody remand prisoners. The Court will not be operating fully for some time.
If the person is on bail or at large the matters will be administratively adjourned by the Registrar on the same terms and conditions without an appearance.
If the person is in custody, the case will be called at Christchurch Prison where a Court has been set up. At this stage, it is only for further remands.
Formal Written Statements: No action required to be completed until advised otherwise. A blanket extension for Formal Written Statements will be sought from the Court and further advice will be put out about this. Do nothing on these files until you hear more.
Fixtures: The Court is re-scheduling fixtures for 20 weeks from the previous hearing dates where the offender is on bail or at large.
Sentencing (Crown and Summary): The Court is re-scheduling Sentencing matters for 12 weeks from the previous hearing dates where the offender is on bail or at large.
Registrar and Judges' List Matters and Registrar PTH Matters: The Court is re-scheduling List/PTH matters for 8 weeks from the previous hearing dates where the offender is on bail or at large.
Trials: All Trial matters are on hold until further notice.
Disclosure: Initial disclosure will need to be prepared and attached to arrest files. Full disclosure will only need to be made as soon as reasonably practicable. In these current circumstances, that will be once the Ministry of Justice have indicated that Courts will be available.