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Residential Tenancies Act 1986

The Tenancy Tribunal - Miscellaneous provisions

116: Rules of procedure

You could also call this:

“This explains how the government can make rules about how the Tribunal works and what people need to do when they use it.”

The Governor-General can make rules about how the Tribunal works and what it does. These rules can cover many things, like:

You need to pay fees for some things, and the rules say how much these fees are.

The rules explain how the Tribunal keeps records and what forms it uses for its documents.

They also say what forms you need to use when you’re dealing with the Tribunal, and how you should give documents to other people.

The rules tell the Tribunal, its workers, and the chief executive what they need to do. This includes things like how to give out notices, change hearing dates, pause proceedings, and deal with reports from Tenancy Mediators.

If you want to take back or change your application, the rules say how to do this.

The rules also talk about how to get witnesses to come to hearings and how they might get paid.

Sometimes, cases might need to move from the Tribunal to the District Court. The rules explain how this happens.

If the Tribunal makes a decision, you might need to file it with the District Court to make sure it happens. The rules say how to do this.

You can look at the Tribunal’s records, and the rules say how you can do this.

These rules are a type of law called secondary legislation. You can find out how these rules are published by looking at Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM95952.

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Part 3 The Tenancy Tribunal
Miscellaneous provisions

116Rules of procedure

  1. The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make rules for all or any of the following purposes:

  2. regulating the practice and procedure of the Tribunal:
    1. prescribing such things (including fees) as are required by this Act to be prescribed:
      1. prescribing such other matters as are necessary or desirable for carrying out the provisions of this Part.

        1. Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), rules may be made providing for the following:

        2. the keeping of records by the Tribunal and the form of such records:
          1. the form of documents to be issued by the Tribunal and the sealing of its documents:
            1. the form and content of documents to be used by parties and intending parties, and the service of documents and the giving of notices by such persons:
              1. the duties, functions, and powers of the Tribunal, Registrars, and chief executive in relation to—
                1. the service of documents and the giving of notices:
                  1. the enlargement of dates of hearing:
                    1. the adjournment of proceedings:
                      1. the reports of Tenancy Mediators:
                      2. the withdrawal and amendment of applications:
                        1. the summoning of witnesses, and the payment of witnesses from public funds or otherwise:
                          1. the duties, functions, and powers of the chief executive and Tenancy Mediators:
                            1. the transfers of proceedings from the Tribunal to the District Court:
                              1. the filing of orders of the Tribunal in the District Court for enforcement:
                                1. the searching of the records of the Tribunal.

                                  1. Rules under this section are secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                                  Notes
                                  • Section 116(2)(d): amended, on , by section 78 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
                                  • Section 116(2)(g): amended, on , by section 78 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
                                  • Section 116(2)(h): amended, on , by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).
                                  • Section 116(2)(i): amended, on , by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).
                                  • Section 116(3): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).