Introduction

I am pleased to provide this Annual Report, the third of its kind. The report is intended to support public understanding of our courts and to enable public scrutiny of how they are administered. It explains the role that courts play in our society, the systems that support their work and the constraints and challenges that bear upon them. The report also describes the work underway outside the courtroom to ensure that our court system is fit for purpose for our changing society.

Openness is a fundamental requirement of any court system and is expressed through the principle of open justice. Cases are argued and decided in a public forum so that the court’s processes can be seen and subjected to scrutiny (for more, see "Open justice and engagement").

But the value of and need for openness extends beyond the individual cases decided. Because the courts administer justice for everyone in society, the public has a legitimate interest in who our judges and judicial officers are and how they are appointed. Information on this can be found on "The judges" page. In addition, a list of all serving judges and judicial officers is provided at Appendix 3.

The public also has a legitimate interest in how our courts are run, how the judiciary is supported to do their work, and how judicial leadership is addressing issues and engaging with opportunities for the courts.

This report presents the work underway by the judiciary to support the efficient and effective administration of justice through the courts. One part of the solution to improving court efficiency and effectiveness lies in technology. This year the judiciary released the Digital Strategy for the Courts and Tribunals of Aotearoa New Zealand, which sets out the judiciary’s objectives and guiding principles for the use of technology in the courts. It outlines how the judiciary, supported by the Ministry of Justice, will strive to capture the benefits of technology in a manner that promotes the rule of law and respects human dignity and the values that underpin the legal system.

We provide an update on some of the projects that are being implemented in accordance with the objectives and principles set out in the Digital Strategy. These include Te Au Reka—the new digital case and court management system intended to modernise the way New Zealand’s courts and tribunals function. Another project is the use of audio-visual links in our courts to enable people to attend court appearances remotely, where it is appropriate to do so.

The Digital Strategy, and the projects guided by it, will play an important part in improving how accessible, efficient and effective the courts are. As the Digital Strategy states, it is essential that any technology adopted by the courts does not compromise the quality of justice administered through them.

Improving access to justice by improving the courts’ processes is a priority for the judiciary. The report describes some of the barriers that people encounter when accessing our justice system, and the work being done to address these ("Delivering timely and accessible justice"). You can read about Te Ao Mārama, the model of justice being developed in the District Court, here. Te Ao Mārama has two basic concepts—to ensure that everyone who engages with the court system can fully participate and understand the proceedings that affect them; and to use the opportunity of a court appearance to identify and address the circumstances that have led to a person’s offending, or the conflict that brings the participants to court.

Achieving these two objectives requires more than the resources available to the courts. For that reason, the model of Te Ao Mārama builds important links between the court, and community and government agencies to ensure better long-term outcomes for offenders and the community.

The Rules Committee’s Improving Access to Civil Justice report is another of the initiatives aimed at improving the courts’ processes. The report recommends to government an increase in the Dispute Tribunal’s jurisdiction and identifies steps that can be taken to revive the District Court’s civil jurisdiction—see "Delivering timely and accessible justice".

Looking beyond our shores, the New Zealand judiciary has a strong tradition of supporting the rule of law in our region. There are longstanding arrangements for the provision of New Zealand judges to support Pacific courts—for example, serving judges on Te Kooti Whenua Māori sit in the Cook Islands High Court (land division). In addition, New Zealand judges have been involved in mentoring and judicial education in the Pacific for many years. These strong connections provide opportunities for our courts to learn from each other. The "Pacific and international engagement" page includes a report of a delegation led by the Chief District Court Judge to Samoa to learn how Samoan culture is incorporated into court operations there. The information gathered on that visit will help the District Court shape culturally responsive court practices in areas with large Samoan communities.

Building on this tradition is the work of the Pacific Justice Sector Programme (PJSP), a programme delivered by Te Kura Kaiwhakawa | Institute of Judicial Studies and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The programme supports the Chief Justices and courts of 15 Pacific nations to strengthen access to justice. The "Pacific and international engagement" page of this report also outlines PJSP’s areas of focus for 2023.

I conclude by expressing, on behalf of my fellow heads of bench, our appreciation to all those who support the operation of the courts and the administration of justice. It is through the work of many people and many agencies that in excess of a million court events were held last year. We are grateful to the Ministry of Justice as our partner in the administration of justice, to the legal profession, to iwi and community agencies who are working with us in new ways as we embed Te Ao Mārama. And finally, as the head of the judiciary, I am grateful to lead a cohort of able and skilled judges and judicial officers committed to the work of delivering justice for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Helen Winkelmann
Chief Justice | Te Tumu Whakawā