KEY POINTS:
Judges want more protection in their courthouses.
They are backing a Budget bid for more security officers, after previous moves by court officials were knocked back.
The Dominion Post reported that if the latest bid succeeded the number of security officers would rise by 35 to 88.
Eventually, judges want everyone entering a court to be scanned, something already being done in some courthouses.
Last year, security officers scanned more than 400,000 people entering courts, evicted 450 and temporarily seized items 4800 times.
Courts Minister Georgina te Heuheu said court safety was a high priority but she was unable to comment on funding issues.
Chief High Court Judge Justice Tony Randerson said that if the Government rejected the bid "there would be a sense of frustration [among judges] that public safety is being compromised ... A very serious incident is viewed as an inevitability".
A committee had been set up to work out how safety could be improved without extra funding.
Last August, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias wrote to the Courts Minister at the time, Rick Barker, "to record continuing concern ... and to convey to you a growing sense of frustration on the part of the judiciary that this seems such a low priority".
Mr Barker agreed that the judges' wish that everyone entering a court be scanned "is a desirable goal to work towards", but said there were financial implications.
- NZPA
