The latest information on the Law Society's response to COVID-19, and New Zealand's response to COVID-19.
As New Zealand has recently moved to the Orange setting in the traffic light framework, our policy for access to premises and contracted event venues has also been updated accordingly.
Please note that vaccine passes will no longer be required at Law Society offices, premises and events.
The position of the New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa (Law Society) regarding our COVID-19 response for people who access Law Society Services. This policy is to establish and communicate the position.
Read our COVID-19 Response Access to Premises and Contracted Events Venues Policy.
04/03/2022
The Chief High Court and Chief District Court Judges have released updated guidelines for the conduct of jury trials in the High Court and District Court, with effect from Monday 7 March 2022.
For information on these guidelines, read the full statement.
02/03/2022
The Chief Justice has published a statement on court operations at phase 3 of the Red setting of the COVID-19 Protection Framework.
The statement outlines how courts will continue to deal with such work as they are able to; the conditions for entry into the courts; rapid antigen testing; and continuing public health measures.
Read the full statement.
01/03/2022
With the rapidly increasing prevalence of Covid-19 in our communities, Ara Poutama Aotearoa has had to impose restrictions on in person visits to their sites.
The Chief Judges of the High and District Courts, Justice Thomas and Judge Taumaunu raised concerns on behalf of the Judiciary and legal profession that restricting in person visits for counsel may have a negative impact on the preparation for some trials.
As such, Ara Poutama Aotearoa has made some amendments to their processes to improve access to clients for assigned counsel. At a high level and at present, Ara Poutama Aotearoa's processes for contact with clients prior to trial are phone contact, audio-visual link and in person visits.
For information on these processes, read the full media statement.
16/02/2022
The Ministry of Justice has compiled a list of answers to the questions raised by the profession regarding court operations.
Download the FAQs
10/02/2022
The Chief Justice has published revised protocols for the operation of the Courts of New Zealand. The protocols have been adjusted to allow for an extended period in the Red traffic light setting, following the Government's announcement of its three-phased public health response to the Omicron variant on 26 January 2022.
Read the revised protocols on the Courts of NZ website.
Read the Chief Justice's statement.
COVID-19 related queries
For COVID-19 queries related to the legal profession please email:
Covid-19@lawsociety.org.nz
Please refer to the guidance for lawyers section below for further information on these updates.
04/04/2022
The Prime Minister has announced that as at 11:59pm tonight, vaccine passes will no longer be mandatory under the COVID-19 Protection Framework. The court operating protocols have been revised following this announcement, and are now available on the Courts of New Zealand website.
Chief Justice Rt Hon Dame Helen Winkelmann has outlined the main changes to the protocols published today:
View the Chief Justice's statement on revised protocols
The Ministry of Justice is working to implement judicial changes to court operating protocols. There have been changes to entry requirements:
View the Ministry of Justice's letter to the profession
Masks will still need to be worn in all courts and tribunals.
Extensive use of remote hearings will continue where that is permitted by law, to reduce the need for defendants and others to attend court.
04/03/2022
The Chief High Court and Chief District Court Judges have released updated guidelines for the conduct of jury trials in the High Court and District Court, with effect from Monday 7 March 2022.
For information on these guidelines, read the full statement.
01/03/2022
With the rapidly increasing prevalence of Covid-19 in our communities, Ara Poutama Aotearoa has had to impose restrictions on in person visits to their sites.
The Chief Judges of the High and District Courts, Justice Thomas and Judge Taumaunu raised concerns on behalf of the Judiciary and legal profession that restricting in person visits for counsel may have a negative impact on the preparation for some trials.
As such, Ara Poutama Aotearoa has made some amendments to their processes to improve access to clients for assigned counsel. At a high level and at present, Ara Poutama Aotearoa's processes for contact with clients prior to trial are phone contact, audio-visual link and in person visits.
For information on these processes, read the full media statement.
11/02/2022
The Chief District Court Judge invited over 20 District Court Judges in over 10 locations around the country to participate in a Remote Courts trial. As a central feature of the trial, the presiding judge has conducted the proceedings from another location using remote technology. All other participants in the proceedings have appeared in-person inside the courtroom.
The remote courts trial has intentionally operated in court locations to plan and build resilience where Omicron is present in the local community.
Read the Chief District Court Judge's full statement.
The courts will continue to receive filing of court documents and payment of fees in all proceedings, in accordance with usual arrangements for electronic filing and payment. Parties can File and Pay online.
Courts (including registry counters) will be closed to the public. Individual courts may have arrangements for filing of documents by drop-box – see the courts’ protocol for further details.
Updated information and guidance for parents and lawyers can be found on the Ministry of Justice website.
Check the guidance on shared parenting released by Principal Family Court Judge Jackie Moran on 24 March 2020.
Check the level 4 protocol for the swearing of affidavits.
In short, the protocol says:
If parties are not able to sign affidavits or swear them in front of an independent lawyer or registrar, they will be accepted for filing by the Court and referred to a Judge for directions.
If a lawyer is acting, and it is a without notice application, the court will be assisted by the lawyer acting including in the requisite memorandum certification to the following effect:
"The affidavit was prepared in accordance with the deponent's specific instructions. It was read to them or an electronic version provided to them.The deponent confirmed that they fully understood the affidavit, and that the contents of it were true and correct."
This can also be used for on notice applications when time is of the essence, if affidavits cannot be sworn, with the certification replacing the deponent's signature and jurat.
Alternatively, a memorandum of counsel should be filed:
(i) confirming that the document contains the same evidentiary matter as the affidavit that the intending deponent would have sworn to or affirmed had an emergency not existed; and
(ii) undertaking that an affidavit containing the same evidentiary matter as that presented for filing will be filed as soon as circumstances reasonably permit.
See the LINZ website for updated information about its services during the current Covid-19 Alert Level restrictions.
LINZ has developed an interim guideline – LINZ OP G 01247 - to assist practitioners who are, for the time being, unable to interact with their clients other than by remote means of communication.
ANZ has released guidance for lawyers, outlining what the bank’s requirements are for Alert Levels 4 and 3.
A free webinar (from March 2020) is available on the CLE website covering property matters during lockdown. This was a Q and A session with the former Chair of the Property Law Section Duncan Terris and the Registrar General of Land Robbie Muir.
Read the Ministry’s guidance for lawyers on property sales and settlements during Covid-19.
The government made Immediate Modification Orders to the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957, the Wills Act 2007 and the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 (Enduring Powers of Attorney) in response to the restrictions of COVID-19. These still apply.
Read the advice on the Ministry of Justice website, download an opinion and download a template certificate.
The legislation can be found here:
Epidemic Preparedness (Oaths and Declarations Act 1957) Immediate Modification Order 2020
Epidemic Preparedness (Wills Act 2007—Signing and Witnessing of Wills) Immediate Modification Order 2020
Epidemic Preparedness (Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988—Enduring Powers of Attorney) Immediate Modification Order 2020
Specific guidance about how Authority will operate under the COVID-19 Protection Framework (traffic lights system) will be issued once the Authority has considered COVID-19 related risk assessments from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment which provides Authority premises and investigation meeting venues.
We expect these assessments to be available in mid-December 2021. Meanwhile, the Authority will contact parties and representatives to discuss arrangements regarding in person investigation meetings scheduled during the next three weeks.
Where appropriate the Authority may continue investigations of some matters via teleconference, audio-visual link or by considering written evidence and written submissions only.
For more information visit the Authority’s website for the latest information.
All postponed investigation meetings will be placed on the Authority prioritised waitlist. Parties and representatives will be contacted by the Authority when it is ready to proceed to investigate their matter.
Parties and representatives are encouraged to lodge new applications to the Authority online or as an attachment to an email.
Authority Members will convene case management conferences by telephone with parties or their representatives to discuss arrangements for dealing with new applications.
The Legal Community Counselling Service provides the option for counselling via phone or videolink as well as face to face.
The Law Society’s Practising Well initiative provides access to other support and resources for lawyers.
Ministry of Health guidelines on managing your mental health are on the Ministry of Health website.
For support with grief, anxiety, distress or mental wellbeing, you can also call or text 1737 to talk with a trained counsellor for free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Now also might be the time to consider mentoring. Our Mentoring Programme uses an online platform called MentorLoop, which matches mentors and mentees based on their profiles.
The Programme is free to join, to get started:
For COVID-19 health advice and information, contact the Ministry of Health’s Healthline team (for free) on 0800 358 5453 or +64 9 358 5453 for international SIMS.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please email covid-19@lawsociety.org.nz
This page will be updated with any further advice for lawyers.
On this page you will find all the latest information about how New Zealand’s response to COVID-19 is impacting the legal profession. We will continue to update this page if alert levels change and will provide regular updated advice from reputable sources for the law profession.