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280: Powers of Environment Commissioner sitting without Environment Judge
or “Environment Commissioners can make some decisions without a judge, but these can be reviewed.”
You could also call this:

“The Environment Court can change or waive rules about timing and paperwork to help make the legal process easier and fairer for everyone involved.”

You can ask the Environment Court to change or skip some rules about how things are done in court. You can ask them to:

Change the time limits for when you need to do things, like sending documents or joining a court case.

Change how documents are sent, what documents need to be sent, or who they need to be sent to.

Change what information needs to be given or how accurate it needs to be.

Give directions about when or how things should be sent, what should be sent, or what rules apply when sharing information.

The court will only agree to these changes if they think it won’t be unfair to anyone involved in the case.

If you want to change a time limit for submitting something to the court, either everyone involved needs to agree, or the court needs to be sure it won’t be unfair to anyone who doesn’t agree.

The court can change time limits even if you ask after the time limit has passed.

A Registrar can also make these changes if the Chief Environment Court Judge allows them to. The Chief Judge can set rules about how the Registrar does this.

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Next up: 281A: Registrar may waive, reduce, or postpone payment of fee

or “The person in charge of court records can let you pay less, pay later, or not pay at all if you can't afford the fee or if it's for something important to everyone.”
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Part 11 Environment Court
Procedure and powers

281Waivers and directions

  1. A person may apply to the Environment Court to—

  2. waive a requirement of this Act or another Act or a regulation about—
    1. the time within which anything shall be served; or
      1. the time within which an appeal or submission to the Environment Court must be lodged; or
        1. the time within which a person must give notice under section 274 that the person wishes to be a party to the proceedings; or
          1. the method of service; or
            1. the documents that shall be served; or
              1. the persons on whom anything shall be served; or
                1. the information, or the accuracy of information, that shall be supplied; or
                2. give a direction about—
                  1. the time within which or the method by which anything is to be served; or
                    1. what shall be served, whether or not the direction complies with this Act or any other Act or a regulation; or
                      1. the terms, including terms as to adjournment, costs, or other things, on which any information shall be supplied.

                      2. The Environment Court shall not grant an application under this section unless it is satisfied that none of the parties to the proceedings will be unduly prejudiced.

                      3. Without limiting subsection (2), the Environment Court shall not grant an application under this section to waive a requirement as to the time within which anything shall be lodged with the court (to which subsection (1)(a)(ii) applies) unless it is satisfied that—

                      4. the appellant or applicant and the respondent consent to that waiver; or
                        1. any of those parties who have not so consented will not be unduly prejudiced.

                          1. Without limiting subsections (2) and (3), the Environment Court may waive a requirement as to time under this section whether or not an application is made under this section before the requirement has been breached.

                          2. A Registrar may exercise a power in this section if conferred by the Chief Environment Court Judge either generally or in relation to a specific matter and, in either case, on such terms and conditions as the Chief Environment Court Judge thinks fit.

                          Notes
                          • Section 281(1): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
                          • Section 281(1)(a)(ii): replaced, on , by section 79 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 23).
                          • Section 281(1)(a)(iia): inserted, on , by section 79 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 23).
                          • Section 281(2): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
                          • Section 281(3): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
                          • Section 281(4): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
                          • Section 281(5): inserted, on , by section 103 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87).
                          • Section 281(5): amended, on , by section 80 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 30).