Senior Courts Act 2016

Rules of court and miscellaneous provisions - Provisions and rules of general application

177: Judicial officers to continue in office to complete proceedings

You could also call this:

"Judges can finish your court case even if their job has ended"

You are part of a court case in a senior court, another court, or a tribunal. A judicial officer is someone who hears evidence in New Zealand. They can keep working on your case even if their term of office has ended or they have retired. You might wonder how long they can keep working on your case. They can work for up to 3 months without needing special permission. After that, they need permission from a Minister to keep going. If a judicial officer keeps working on your case, it does not stop someone else from being appointed to their job. The judicial officer will get paid for the work they do to finish your case. They get paid the same rate they would have gotten if they were still in their normal job. A judicial officer is defined as someone who has the authority to hear evidence in New Zealand. This is explained in a law, which is a rule that everyone must follow. You can find more information about this law by looking at the Senior Courts Act and other related laws.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5759553.

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

Topics:

Crime and justice > Courts and legal help

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Part 6Rules of court and miscellaneous provisions
Provisions and rules of general application

177Judicial officers to continue in office to complete proceedings

This section applies to proceedings in a senior court, another court, or a tribunal.
A judicial officer whose term of office has expired or who has retired may continue in office for the purpose of completing the hearing of a matter, or determining or giving judgment in proceedings, that the judicial officer has heard either alone or with others.
A judicial officer must not continue in office under subsection (1) for longer than 3 months without the consent of the nominating Minister.
The fact that a judicial officer continues in office does not affect the power to appoint another person to that office.
A judicial officer who continues in office is entitled to be paid the appropriate rate for the days or half-days worked in completing the proceedings, and that rate is the rate of the remuneration and allowances to which the officer would have been entitled for those days or half-days if the term of office had not expired or the officer had not retired.
In this section, judicial officer means a person who has in New Zealand authority under an enactment to hear, receive, and examine evidence.

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1908 No 89 s 88A