Access to court records 'dog's breakfast'

Rules surrounding public access to court records are a "dog's breakfast" and in dire need of review, Law Commission president Sir Geoffrey Palmer has said.

A Law Commission report tabled today in Parliament has recommended a clearer and more open regime, based on the presumption court records will be accessible unless there are good reasons to withhold them.

The 176-page report, Access to Court Records, was prepared over two years in consultation with the public, interested parties, and law relating to the subject.

It describes the current access rules as often inconsistent, difficult to locate, and unclear.

"There are obvious gaps and there is also a lack of consistency across jurisdictions," the report said. "A new approach is overdue."

Sir Geoffrey did not mince words. "The law in New Zealand is a dog's breakfast really, it really is," he said.

He said frustration with the system came through "loud and clear" during the consultation process.

Media representatives and researchers had complained of delays in obtaining responses to requests, inconsistencies in responses varying between different courts, regions, or even members of staff within one court, and problems accessing basic details such as the spelling of names or dates of court adjournments from court staff.

A key recommendation in the report aimed at assisting the media was to allow reporters who were not physically present in the court room during a hearing to obtain copies of court records that were produced or relied upon.

Another was to empower justices of the peace to release hand-up depositions to the media, if there were no objections from the parties.

Secretary of the Media Freedom Committee of the Commonwealth Press Union Lincoln Gould said the committee welcomed the recommendations, both of which were included in its submission to the Law Commission.

Large news organisations often needed to keep track of court proceedings taking place in towns where they did not employ full time reporters.

It was important they were able to ring court staff and obtain information.

Mr Gould said situations had arisen where reporters had rung court registry staff and asked what date a depositions hearing was to be held and were told they could not have the date as they had not been in court to hear it.

This was "a nonsense", and a major frustration to editors.

"The Media Freedom Committee will be very anxious to monitor the progress of the report to ensure that these recommendations are followed," he said.

Sir Geoffrey said under New Zealand's public justice system, information should be shared as "far as practicable".

"The regime we recommend will assist the media and aid accurate reporting and the free flow of information to the community about the judicial process.

Sir Geoffrey said some material would need to be withheld, such as some records from the family court or youth court, but said rules would need to be set and consistently applied.

The report recommended establishing a committee which would set rules for each jurisdiction.

The government has six months to respond to the report, which is available on the Law Commission website www.lawcom.govt.nz.

Justice Minister Mark Burton welcomed the commission's report and said it dealt with an important element of the judicial system.

It required a considered response from the Government which would be presented to Parliament by the end of the year, he said.

- NZPA