NZ: Royal commission behind setup
From http://www.peterellis.org.nz/FamilyCourt/2004-0327_NZHerald_RoyalCommission.htm
NZ Herald
March 27, 2004
Royal commission behind setup
by Phil Taylor
The institution criticised by Nick Smith for its secrecy began hearing family matters in private because of a royal commission.
The Family Court was set up in 1980 at the recommendation of a Royal Commission on the Courts, which was critical of the unnecessarily open way sensitive and emotional disputes, particularly involving children, was handled.
It was proposed a court be started that was informal and private in nature.
Since then, it has grown to the point where there are now 39 Family Court judges hearing about 11,000 cases a year.
One of Dr Smith's criticisms was of case backlogs. Statistics show that as at May last year, the longest delay was 46 weeks for a case in Levin.
The Auckland region (Auckland, 43; Pukekohe, 41; North Shore, 31; Papakura, 26) and Wellington (40 weeks) otherwise had the longest waits.
The court's caseload has more than doubled in the past 12 years, with 65,810 new cases filed in the year to June 2003.
Much of this increase has occurred in the past five years but only three more judges have been added during that period.
Legal aid spending on Family Court cases had decreased in recent years after the rising legal aid bill became a prominent issue. Family Court legal aid peaked in 1999 at $39m but last year it was down to $27.2m.
The largest sum paid for a single case in the past 10 years was $104,000. In 72 per cent of Family Court legal aid cases the recipient is female.
Last week, in a shift from what was recommended by the Royal Commission in 1980, the Law Commission recommended the media be allowed to attend the court and, subject to certain restrictions, report proceedings.
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