Incorporated Societies Act 2022

Register, regulations, amendments, and other miscellaneous provisions - Jurisdiction

252: Jurisdiction of District Court

You could also call this:

"What the District Court can decide about Incorporated Societies"

Illustration for Incorporated Societies Act 2022

You can take an appeal to the District Court if you disagree with a decision made by the Registrar. The District Court can hear and decide on applications under this Act if the amount involved is not more than $350,000, or if no amount is involved. The District Court can also hear applications if the issue comes up during other court proceedings, or if all parties agree to let the District Court decide. You can agree to let the District Court hear your application under section 81 of the District Court Act 2016. The District Court's ability to hear appeals is not limited by its ability to hear applications. However, the District Court cannot hear some matters, like applications to put a society into liquidation, if this Act says the High Court must deal with them. The District Court's jurisdiction to hear applications does not affect its jurisdiction to hear appeals against the Registrar's decisions. This means the District Court can still hear appeals, even if it cannot hear certain applications. The rules about the District Court's jurisdiction are important to understand if you are involved in a dispute or application under this Act.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS101155.

This page was last updated on 4 January 2026 — View changes

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251: Sharing of information relating to charitable entities, or

"Sharing information about charities to help officials do their job"

253: Jurisdiction of High Court, or

"The High Court makes decisions on important society matters."

Part 6Register, regulations, amendments, and other miscellaneous provisions
Jurisdiction

252Jurisdiction of District Court

The District Court may hear and determine appeals against the Registrar’s decisions.
The District Court may hear and determine applications for orders, or for a court to exercise any other power, under any of the provisions of this Act if—
the amount claimed or the value of the property to which the matter relates does not exceed $350,000; or
no amount is claimed and there is no property to which the matter relates; or
the occasion for the making of the order or the exercise of the power arises in the course of civil proceedings properly before the court; or
the parties consent, under section 81 of the District Court Act 2016, to the District Court having jurisdiction to hear and determine the application.

Subsection (2) does not limit subsection (1).
Despite subsection (2), the District Court does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an application or other matter if this Act expressly provides that the High Court is to exercise the power in relation to the matter (for example, applications for a society to be put into liquidation).