Election 2023: Labour wants to enable class action law suits, review district court jury trials

Labour wants to make it easier for a group of people to be able to take legal action together in a class action law suit, which is hoped to help consumers and those on lower incomes.

A Law Commission report last year noted that class action regimes exist in about 40 countries but not in New Zealand, meaning there were few rules or guidance on how cases should proceed.

Currently, the High Court allows one or more persons to sue or be sued on behalf of everyone with the same interest.

This happened recently with a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit against ANZ and ASB over claims they failed to fully refund around 150,000 customers for fees and interest earned on loans in which there were disclosure breaches.

But New Zealand does not have a detailed class action regime.

“Class actions can improve access to justice and be an efficient way of managing many individual claims,” commission president Amokura Kawharu said when the commission’s report was released.

“There are significant barriers to accessing civil justice in Aotearoa New Zealand, including the costs associated with litigation. Class actions and litigation funding are not a silver bullet for those issues, but we think they can both make important contributions.”

A class action case has been filed against the ANZ and ASB banks. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said, if re-elected, he would create a formal class actions regime.

“Currently, those who would benefit from a regime the most, such as consumers and those on lower incomes, are often shut out of the legal system because of the cost of taking individual action.”

Hipkins said he would work with the judiciary, the legal profession and consumer advocates in designing the scheme.

The Law Commission recommended that class action cases should require court approval to proceed, and that opt-in and opt-out options be permitted.

The commission also wanted a new public class action fund, which would support public interest cases and those seeking non-financial claims.

Labour’s justice spokeswoman Ginny Andersen said Labour also wanted to review jury trials in district courts, which were becoming more common.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of complex jury trials taking place, along with a rise in defendants opting for jury trials. Reform in this area could include examining the threshold for jury trials, what information jurors are asked to consider and issues around more complex cases.”

Labour also wants to legislate for further uptake of audio-visual technology in the courts, which would make temporary changes during the Covid-19 pandemic more permanent.

Labour has previously announced legislation to empower rape victims over name suppression and stop children in sex cases being asked under cross-examination about consent, which has cross-party support.

It also wants to continue its support of the rollout of the Te Ao Mārama model in the district court, which seeks to bring specialist court practices into the mainstream.

While in Government it started three pilot programmes to improve the criminal justice experience for victims.

Derek Cheng is a senior journalist who started at the Herald in 2004. He has worked several stints in the press gallery and is a former deputy political editor.