Submissions invited on discussion paper - "one court one judge" for family violence

Submissions are invited on a discussion paper on an integrated court system for New Zealand families affected by violence.

The paper One Court One Judge: An Integrated Court System for New Zealand Families Affected by Violence (2017) has been written by researcher Zoë Lawton. Funding was provided by the New Zealand Law Foundation under a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Justice. Logistical support was provided by the Victoria University Faculty of Law.

Ms Lawton writes "At present families affected by violence often have to appear before multiple judges in multiple courts: the District Court for criminal proceedings and the Family Court for family proceedings. Some families may also have younger family members involved in criminal proceedings in the Youth Court.

The purpose of this discussion paper is start a constructive discussion about whether an integrated approach to managing related court proceedings concerning the same family should be adopted in New Zealand. In other words, would it be better for families if their court proceedings were heard in one court before one judge?"

Feedback is welcomed on whether you or your organisation supports the introduction of this type of approach in New Zealand. Zoë Lawton advises that all written feedback received will be published in full on her website and provided to the Ministry of Justice. The closing date for submissions is 25 August 2017.

Update: The Law Commission has provided comments on the paper.

Related research

Research on legal issues and family violence is available in the Clearinghouse library- try the Justice quick topic search as a start.