Latest from Justice System

How to represent yourself in court

People who are forced to represent themselves in court as legal aid budgets are cut should not attempt to imitate the fast-talking lawyers they see on television.

Changes aim to ease trial delays

A judge set the task of taking the handbrake off jury-trial delays says the problem is being caused by defendants who "are not in any hurry to get off to prison".

Barry Hart back in court to stop sale

Struck-off Auckland lawyer Barry Hart was back in court today fighting to stop the mortgagee sale of one of his properties by the ANZ bank.

Fine for Auckland lawyer over affidavit

An Auckland lawyer has been censured and fined after his firm prepared an affidavit for a man who was about to retract evidence against one of his clients.

Ruth Money: Harder line needed to prevent madness

Police broadly do the best they can, but are continually let down by soft-touch judges and the mental health system.

Barry Hart's companies placed in voluntary liquidation

$1b class lawsuit targets big banks

A billion-dollar lawsuit against New Zealand's banks could have an impact on their bottom line profits but the banks' lobby group says it has doubts over the claim gaining traction.

Pilot clearly at fault, says judge

The Pacific Blue airline pilot convicted of flying carelessly out of Queenstown made a series of mistakes that "seriously impacted" on safety margins, says a judge.

Judges' work under lens

The chief judge of the District Court is finalising a proposal to subject New Zealand's 133 district court judges to performance reviews and greater public scrutiny.

Subbie wins fight to get back its gear

The screech and hammer of tools returned to a Mainzeal construction site yesterday - but only as subcontractors were finally allowed to remove their equipment.

Help for wrongly convicted

A leading forensic scientist is launching a charity for people who have been wrongly convicted.

Boy racers avoiding the big crush

Most boy racers seem to be learning their lesson, with only 127 convictions for illegal street racing being racked up by repeat offenders over the past three years.

Lawyers' googling to be scrutinised

The Law Commission will investigate the issues raised by lawyers researching jurors on the internet, then tailoring their arguments to help them win cases.

Father yells at movie-massacre accused

The father of a victim of the Colorado cinema massacre yelled "rot in hell!" at the alleged gunman as a judge delayed the trial.

Serial thief awaits sentencing

When serial con-man David Nepia Carroll needed money, it seemed nothing was off-limits, not even children's piggy banks.

Final release for ex-con

A love story that began at a murder trial drew to a poignant close this week.

Colleague's log in used to track info

Darren Ian Hodgetts used a coll-eague's computer log-on to leak confidential information to a target of a drugs investigation for a promised fee of $5000.

Rodney Hide: A pity foreign experts aren't as clever as us