Employment Relations Act 2000

Institutions - Judges of the court

210: Quorum and decision of court

You could also call this:

"How a court with many Judges makes decisions with at least two Judges agreeing"

When you are in a court with more than one Judge, at least two Judges must be present for the court to make decisions. You need to have two Judges to make the court work for a case or question. This is a rule that must be followed, unless the law says something different.

If there are more than two Judges, the decision is made by the majority of Judges who are present. This means that if there are three Judges and two agree, their decision is the court's decision. The court's decision is what most of the Judges think.

Sometimes the Judges might not agree, and this can cause a problem. If the Judges are evenly split, the Chief Judge gets to make the decision if they are present. If the Chief Judge is not there, the most senior Judge makes the decision.

The court's decision must be written down and signed by a Judge. You can get the decision from a Judge or the Registrar of the court. This is how the court makes sure its decisions are official.

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This page was last updated on 20 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM61419.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpWork and jobs > Worker rights

209: Full court, or

"When the Chief Judge chooses, a bigger group of judges, called a full court, makes important decisions together"

211: Statement of case for Court of Appeal, or

"Asking the Court of Appeal to help decide a law question in your court case"

Part 10Institutions
Judges of the court

210Quorum and decision of court

Where, in relation to any proceedings, case, or question, the court consists of more than 1 Judge, the presence of at least 2 Judges is necessary to constitute a sitting of the court for the purposes of those proceedings, or that case or question, except as otherwise expressly provided.
The decision of a majority of the Judges present at the sitting of the court is the decision of the court.
Where the Judges present at a sitting of the court are equally divided in opinion, the decision of the court, for the purposes of subsection (2), is the decision of the Chief Judge if the Chief Judge is present or, if the Chief Judge is not present, the decision of the most senior of the Judges present.
The decision of the court in every case must be signed by a Judge, and may be issued by a Judge or by the Registrar of the court.

Compare

1991 No 22 s 120