Apology for Auckland Family Court delays

Stuff reports that Justice secretary Andrew Bridgman apologised about the serious delays and backlog resulting from a new centralised system in the Auckland Family Court in Parliament on Thursday, "admitting staff were not fully prepared for the changes and the ministry did not engage with the legal profession early or actively enough."

The Sunday Star-Times has received information on the problems in the Auckland Family Court under the Official Information Act. This follows its earlier story revealing the Law Society's concerns that the issues were placing people experiencing family violence at risk. The information includes two letters from Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier, who wrote to the ministry detailing concerns including no ownership of files, disorganised court lists, delays of up to six months for judicial conferences and decisions not being released quickly enough. Judge Boshier noted that staff morale was affecting service delivery and the "considerable disquiet" among judges about the new system.

'Papers reveal costly chaos of Family Courts', Stuff, 2/12/12