Chapter 12
The District Courts
Introduction
12.1If, as we recommend, the existing courts legislation is to be consolidated into a new Courts Act, the District Courts, as the primary distributors of “grass roots justice”, will obviously form a fundamental part of this exercise.
12.2In this chapter, we focus on two topics relating to the architecture of the District Courts that we sought input on in Issues Paper 29:
- whether the 63 District Courts should be replaced with one unitary District Court; and
- whether the upper limit of the District Courts’ jurisdiction should be increased (and, if so, to what level).
12.3We also briefly discuss other provisions in the District Courts Act 1947.
