Māori Land Court: COVID-19 Past Alert Level 3 Protocol (Auckland region)

Chief Judge Wilson Isaac
12 August 2020

1.  This protocol will take effect when New Zealand, or any region of New Zealand, moves to Level 3 of the COVID-19 Alert System.  It should be read in conjunction with the Government’s COVID-19 Alert System Level 3 restrictions.

2.  Where any region is at Level 3, all filing with the Māori Land Court office(s) in the region must be made either electronically or by post.  For reasons of public safety Māori Land Court offices in any region that is at Level 3 will not be open to the public, and documents will not be able to be received for filing in person.

3.  The Court will not hold in-person court hearings in any region that is at Level 3 of the alert system.

4.  For any matters that were scheduled for hearing in a region that has moved to Level 3, Judges will consider which of those applications can be dealt with on the papers.  Where determination on the papers is possible, this is to be preferred.

5.  For matters that cannot be dealt with on the papers and require a hearing, then Judges and staff will investigate with parties whether it is appropriate for a hearing to take place either by telephone conference, audio-visual link (AVL) or another form of video conferencing.

6.  Applications that require a hearing and where the facts are likely to be contested will be adjourned until an in-person hearing can take place at a later date.

7.  In terms of Māori Appellate Court sittings, the same approach will be taken.