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Senior Courts Act 2016

Court of Appeal - Jurisdiction

62: 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 Court of Appeal are absent, you need to know what happens next. You are involved in 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 rehear 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. If a Judge dies or becomes unavailable while a judgment is being written, the remaining Judges decide what to do. They can choose to finish the judgment or rehear the proceeding. If a Judge is absent when a session of the Court of Appeal is supposed to start, the other Judges can adjourn the session. If no Judges are present, the Registrar adjourns the session and decides when the next one will be. You can find more information about this in section 53(1).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6143304.

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Part 3Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction

62Procedure if Judges absent

  1. This section applies if, because of the death or unavailability of 1 or 2 of the Judges of the Court of Appeal who are about to begin or have begun hearing a proceeding, only 2 of those Judges (in the case of a division of the court) or 3 or 4 of those judges (in the case of a full court) 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 Court of Appeal 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 53(1) to a majority of the Judges hearing the proceeding must be read as a reference to the 2 remaining Judges (in the case of a division) or to a majority of those remaining Judges (in the case of a full court).

          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 Court of Appeal, 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 Court of Appeal is present at the time appointed for a session of the court, the Registrar of the Court of Appeal must adjourn the session and may determine the time and place of the next session.

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