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Senior Courts Act 2016

Supreme Court - Powers and judgments of Supreme Court

84: Procedure if Judges absent

You could also call this:

"What happens in court if a Judge is absent"

Illustration for Senior Courts Act 2016

If some Judges of the Supreme Court are absent, you need to know what happens next. You are part of a proceeding and some Judges are not available because they have died or are unable to be there. The remaining Judges decide what to do. The remaining Judges can choose to adjourn or re-hear the proceeding, or let it continue. If they decide it can continue, they can make decisions on the proceeding and any applications. They can also decide on costs, which means who pays for what. If a Judge dies or becomes unavailable while a decision is being written, the remaining Judges decide what to do. They might decide to finish writing the decision or to re-hear the proceeding. If a Judge is absent when a session is supposed to start, the other Judges can adjourn the session to another time. If no Judges are present, the Registrar of the Supreme Court adjourns the session and decides when and where the next one will be. You can find more information about this in section 85(1). The Registrar's decision is important to keep the court process going.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5759424.

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Part 4Supreme Court
Powers and judgments of Supreme Court

84Procedure if Judges absent

  1. This section applies if, because of the death or unavailability of 1 or 2 of the Judges of the Supreme Court who are about to begin or have begun hearing a proceeding, only 3 or 4 of those Judges remain available to hear and determine the proceeding.

  2. The remaining Judges must decide whether the proceeding must be adjourned or reheard, or may continue.

  3. If the remaining Judges decide that the proceeding may continue,—

  4. they may—
    1. act as the Supreme Court in relation to the proceeding and hear and determine the proceeding; and
      1. make any order or decision on any interlocutory application; and
        1. make any order or decision as to costs; and
        2. a reference in section 85(1) to a majority of the Judges hearing the proceeding must be read as a reference to a majority of those remaining Judges.

          1. If the death or unavailability occurs while judgment is reserved in the proceeding, the remaining Judges must decide—

          2. whether the judgment should be produced or completed, and (if so) who should produce or complete the judgment; or
            1. whether the proceeding should be reheard.

              1. If, at the time appointed for a session of the Supreme Court, 1 or more Judges are absent, the Judge or Judges present may adjourn or further adjourn the session to some other time.

              2. If none of the Judges of the Supreme Court is present at the time appointed for a session of the court, the Registrar of the Supreme Court must adjourn the session and may determine the time and place of the next session.

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