Disputes Tribunal Act 1988

Repeals, consequential amendments, and transitional provisions

84: Transitional provisions

You could also call this:

"Rules for When the Law Changed"

Illustration for Disputes Tribunal Act 1988

When this law started, any Small Claims Tribunal that already existed was considered a Disputes Tribunal. You will see that the people in charge of these tribunals did not need to be reappointed. Their roles were automatically transferred to the new system. If a case was already underway under the old law, it could continue under the new law. You can think of it like a handover from one system to another. The new law allowed this to happen smoothly. Even the forms used under the old law could still be used under the new law. You did not need to change any printed material just because the law changed. This made the transition easier for everyone involved.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM134171.

This page was last updated on 28 January 2026 — View changes

83: References to Small Claims Tribunals, etc, deemed references to Disputes Tribunal, or

"Old laws mentioning Small Claims Tribunals now mean Disputes Tribunal"

Schedule 1AA: Transitional, savings, and related provisions, or

"Rules for when laws change and how it affects people and jobs"

Part 7Repeals, consequential amendments, and transitional provisions

84Transitional provisions

Every Small Claims Tribunal established under section 4 of the Small Claims Tribunals Act 1976 before the commencement of this section shall, if that Tribunal was subsisting immediately before the commencement of this section, be deemed for all purposes to have been established as a Disputes Tribunal under this Act.
Every person who, immediately before the commencement of this section, held office as a Referee pursuant to section 7 of the Small Claims Tribunals Act 1976 shall, without further appointment, be deemed as from the commencement of this section for all purposes to have been appointed as a Referee under this Act, and that person's warrant of appointment shall be construed accordingly.
All proceedings commenced under the Small Claims Tribunals Act 1976, and pending or in progress at the commencement of this section, may be continued, completed, and enforced under this Act.
Any form that was printed, before the commencement of this section, in the form prescribed by or under, and for the purposes of, the Small Claims Tribunals Act 1976 may be used for the purposes of this Act after the commencement of this section, and it shall not be necessary, merely because of any of the provisions of this Act, to alter any printed material in any such form.