Senior Courts Act 2016

High Court - Panels of Judges

19: Panels

You could also call this:

"Special teams of Judges to hear certain types of cases"

The High Court has a special group of Judges called the commercial panel. You can think of it like a team that deals with commercial cases. This team is set up to hear and decide commercial proceedings. The Governor-General can decide when this team starts working, what types of cases they can handle, and even when they should stop working if needed. The Chief High Court Judge can create other teams of Judges to deal with non-commercial cases. They can decide how many Judges are on each team and which Judges are assigned to which team. You can ask for your case to be handled by a Judge on one of these teams, and the Chief High Court Judge can assign a Judge from the team to your case. The rules about these teams are considered secondary legislation, which means they have to be published in a certain way (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for more information).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5759326.

This page was last updated on 9 February 2026 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Courts and legal help

18: Proceedings in place of writs, or

"Going to the High Court for help without needing a writ"

20: Associate Judge may exercise certain powers of High Court, or

"An Associate Judge can make some decisions like a High Court Judge."

Part 2High Court
Panels of Judges

19Panels

The commercial panel of the High Court from which Judges may be selected to hear and determine commercial proceedings is established and may operate subject to this section.
The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Attorney-General after consultation with the Chief Justice and the Chief High Court Judge,—
specify a commencement date for the operation of the commercial panel:
specify the types of proceedings that may be assigned to the commercial panel:
if the Governor-General considers it necessary, provide for the commercial panel to cease its operations on or from a specified date.

The Chief High Court Judge, in consultation with the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice, may establish other panels of High Court Judges for the purposes of dealing with proceedings other than commercial proceedings.
The Chief High Court Judge may determine how many High Court Judges are to be on the commercial panel or any other panel and assign Judges to the panels.
The Chief High Court Judge may decide the basis on which cases are to be distributed as between Judges on the commercial panel or another panel and Judges who are not on any panel.
A party may nominate that the party’s case be dealt with by a Judge on a panel and the Chief High Court Judge may assign to the case a Judge or Judges from a panel.
An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

Notes

Section 19(7): inserted, on 28 October 2021, by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).