Ākarana Chambers has had to close our physical office in High Street along with the rest of New Zealand as we move into COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown.
However all our barristers are working remotely from their home offices and are available to take instructions and give advice as usual. You can contact each of them via their respective email addresses/mobile phone numbers (not landline). Please refer to the contact details listed for each person under “Barristers” on this website, by clicking through on the individual barrister.
Alternatively, for quick phone contact if viewing on a mobile device:
Gary Hughes +6421477780
Alex McDonald +6421309588
Stuart Ryan +64212860230
Erin James +64210607930
Paul Murray +64210340729
Access to the Courts is still available – courts are considered an essential service, and our Chief Justice has said they “must continue to uphold the rule of law and to ensure that fair trial rights, the right to natural justice and rights under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act are upheld.”
- But only priority cases are to be heard at present
- The courts are moving to more online/remote hearings (by audio-visual link or phone) and we expect further details in coming days
The protocols for each courts differ as to what they consider “priority” at the moment. For example, in the High Court, this currently means primarily these types of proceedings:
- Custodial remands (criminal cases)
- Bail applications, appeals, and breaches (criminal)
- Habeas corpus applications (criminal or lockdown detention
- Remand, case review, sentencings and sentence indications which may affect custodial status (criminal)
- Criminal appeals
- Civil appeals including those from the Family Court involving care of children and Hague Convention issues
- Applications by Police and Corrections authorities
- Applications for civil remedies including injunctions, freezing orders and interim orders in judicial review proceedings (urgent commercial and non-criminal cases)
- Urgent caveat matters (land, property, mortgage or security case
- Urgent probate matters (wills and estates)
Ordinary commercial, contract and civil cases can still be processed, but we can expect delays as they are not on the high priority list above.
- Speak to your barrister for specific advice about court matters or any other aspect of COVID-19 upheaval.
Stay safe, be kind, uphold the law.