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Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Contracts legislation - Minors’ contracts - Jurisdiction

113: Jurisdiction of District Court

You could also call this:

“The District Court can decide on some contract matters”

You can take certain matters to the District Court if they involve contracts. The District Court can make decisions about contracts in three situations:

  1. When a case about a contract comes up during another civil case that the court is already dealing with.

  2. When the contract involves a young person (called a minor), and the value of what was promised or done in the contract is not more than $350,000.

  3. When everyone involved in the case agrees that the District Court can handle it.

If you want to ask the District Court to look at a specific contract issue, the court will treat your request like a regular court case. This means they will follow their usual rules for dealing with cases.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844239.

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Part 2 Contracts legislation
Minors’ contracts: Jurisdiction

113Jurisdiction of District Court

  1. The District Court has jurisdiction to exercise any of the powers conferred by sections 86 to 95 if—

  2. the occasion for the exercise of the power arises in the course of any civil proceeding (other than an application made for the purposes of sections 87 to 89 or section 93) properly before the court; or
    1. the value of the consideration for the promise or act of any minor under the contract is not more than $350,000; or
      1. the parties consent, in accordance with section 81 of the District Court Act 2016, that the District Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine the application.

        1. For the purposes of sections 86 to 89 of the District Court Act 2016, an application made to the District Court under sections 87 to 89 or section 93 of this Act must be treated as a proceeding.

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