Supreme Court judges to get new home

Refurbishment of the old High Court in Wellington will still go ahead. Picture / Mark Mitchell

The judiciary has won its battle with the Government over accommodation for New Zealand's highest court, the Supreme Court, which is to be housed in multimillion-dollar purpose-built offices in Wellington.

The Government originally wanted to refurbish the old High Court building for the five judges but they considered this facility unsuitable for the collegial nature of their work.

The Herald understands that the Cabinet has finally signed off a proposal that will see the judges working in a new building which will be integrated in some way with the historic court building. Restoration of the old building will go ahead.

Its large number one courtroom will be used primarily for ceremonial purposes, but occasionally for sittings.

There are no detailed plans yet of the new court but it will encroach into the small park between the old court and Lambton Quay, known as Justice Park.

And more modern additions to the old court will be knocked down.

It is not known if the judges will get a roof garden or whether they will have their offices on the same floor, which had been requested in the plans for refurbishment. But they will have their own library.

The amount of money set aside for the project is also not known. Courts Minister Rick Barker would not return calls yesterday.

The estimated cost of the original restoration was put at $20 million and the Treasury's December economic and fiscal update put the possible increase in the cost for the project at between $15 million and $20 million in the present financial year.

The Historic Places Trust yesterday welcomed the solution, saying that all parties were happy with the outcome.

"Everyone is looking much more positive about getting what they want," said the general manager of the trust's Wellington region, Ann Neill.

It had been agreed that the existing building would be an integral part of the new design rather than look like two buildings that had been tacked on to each other.

The Supreme Court has been sitting since July 2004, after the Privy Council in London ceased to be the last avenue of appeal in the New Zealand justice system.

The judges have temporary offices at the Victoria University of Wellington Law School, in the old wooden building across the road from Parliament, and hold their sittings in the basement of the modern-day High Court building in Molesworth St.