Kia ora,

Thank you for contacting the Official Information Act request mailbox for
the Ministry of Justice. 

We will endeavour to acknowledge your email within 2 working days.

You can find more information about how we can help you at our [1]Official
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Please note that by law, when you ask for official information we have to
respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable and no later
than 20 working days after we receive it.

 

The Ministry of Justice may publish the response to your request on our
website, you can expect that if your OIA is to be published that this will
take place at least 10 working days after it has been sent you. Your name
and any other personal information will be withheld under Section 9(2)(a)
(protect the privacy of natural persons).

 

Please send any non-OIA related emails through to
o[2][email address] and any complaints through
to [3][email address]

Ngā mihi,

Ministerial Relations and Services

Governance and Assurance

DDI: +64 4 918 8800

Justice Centre I Aitken Street

DX Box SX 10088 I Wellington

[4]www.justice.govt.nz

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2. mailto:[email address]
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4. http://www.justice.govt.nz/

Kia ora Erika,

Thank you for contacting the Ministry of Justice.

We acknowledge receipt of your request regarding the publishing of Covid-19 related judgements by The Courts.

This has been forwarded to the relevant business unit for consideration and response.

You can expect a response by 16/11/2023.

The Ministry of Justice may publish the response to your request on our website, you can expect that if your OIA is to be published that this will take place at least 10 working days after it has been sent you. Your name and any other personal information will be withheld under Section 9(2)(a) (protect the privacy of natural persons).

Ngā mihi,

Ministerial Relations and Services | Strategy, Governance and Finance
Ministry of Justice | Tāhū o te Ture
Level 6 Justice Centre | Aitken Street
DX Box SX 10088 | Wellington
www.justice.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Erika Whittome <[FOI #24466 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 18 October 2023 11:12 am
To: [Ministry of Justice request email]
Subject: Official Information request - The publishing of Covid-19 related judgements by The Courts - Take 2

Dear Ministry of Justice,

The Minister of Justice resigned in July 2023. This page has been removed https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/judgments...

1. Prior to this page;s removal, would you please would you supply all the criteria for publishing a "Covid 19 related judgement" on this page of court decisions page:
https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/judgments...

2. Would you kindly share the reasons why the following case which took place in the public court in 2022 which is Covid-19 related are not available on the NZ Courts decisions finder?
-Whittome v Taupo Tennis and Ors CIV-2022 -069-000021,

3 Kindly share the memos, minutes and decisions which came about for the above publishing criteria of the page for "Covid-19 related Judgements".

4. Kindly share the memos, minutes and decision which came about for the removal of this page that used to be on your website https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/judgments...

Yours faithfully,

Erika Whittome

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Dear Erika

 

Please find attached.

 

 

Ngā mihi,

Communications Services
Ministry of Justice | Tāhū o te Ture

www.[1]justice.govt.nz

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.justice.govt.nz/

Dear Erika,

As per the 15 November response to your OIA, decisions about the publication of judgments and associated documents are court information.

Courts and Tribunals are judicial bodies that operate independently from the Government. The Ministry of Justice does not hold court information.

The District Court website publishes a selection of judgments from the criminal, family, youth and civil jurisdictions of the District Court, including COVID-19 related judgments. These are selected against criteria and policy set by the District Court judicial leadership.

These criteria and policy documents are court information that is not subject to the Act.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be contacted by email at [email address] or by phone on 0800 802 602.

ngā mihi,
Paul Easton
Principal Media Advisor | Communications Services
Ministry of Justice | Tāhū o te Ture
[email address] | justice.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Erika Whittome <[FYI request #24466 email]>
Sent: Monday, 27 November 2023 7:37 am
To: Media <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Official Information Act request

Dear Media,

Would you kindly share your policies that are used for “consideration for publication” of court decisions from your media and social media manager?

You say:
If you require any further information, please contact Media & Social Media Manager, Joe Locke, at [email address]

Would Joe Locke or his manager kindly answer this questions?

You have not answered this OIA question and have deferred this to the jurisdiction of the Court.

However These court decisions are already decided. They are no longer in the Court. Remember that The Court is a public place, (apart from certain family and children court scenarios). There is no more to be done regarding a decision in the Court once the decision for a case is written up.

Yours sincerely,

Erika Whittome

-----Original Message-----

Dear Erika

 

Please find attached.

 

 

Ngā mihi,

Communications Services
Ministry of Justice | Tāhū o te Ture

www.[1]justice.govt.nz

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.justice.govt.nz/

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
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Dear Ms Whittome

 

I refer to your complaint to the Ombudsman about the Ministry’s response
to your request for information about the criteria for publishing
judgments.

 

Decisions on what judgments get published, and the criteria for
publication, are made by the judiciary, not the Ministry.  The Office of
the Chief Justice has provided the following information of relevance to
your request:

 

Judgments of Public Interest – Courts of NZ website

The Courts of NZ website publishes all decisions from the Supreme Court,
and some decisions from the Court of Appeal and High Court under a
fast-tracked publishing process called [1]Judgments of Public Interest
(JPI). The website also links to judgments of public interest from other
courts’ websites – specifically the Employment Court and the District
Court.

 

The following are applied in determining whether a judgment is published
as a judgment of public interest:

o There has been regular media attendance during trial
o There has been reporting of the case during trial
o Media organisations have made a specific request for the judgment
o A judge has directed delivery of a copy to a specific media outlet.

 

JPIs from the High Court and Court of Appeal remain on the website for 90
days, after which they are available on Judicial Decisions Online (JDO).
All Supreme Court decisions remain on Courts of NZ permanently. All JPIs
are accompanied by a Tweet from the Courts of NZ Twitter (now X) account.
Some JPIs are accompanied by a media release to assist in understanding of
the judgment.

 

Courts of NZ “COVID-19-related judgments” page

The courts dealt with a number of pandemic-related matters at the time of
the pandemic. The COVID-19-related judgments page was published to provide
improved access to decisions issued by the senior courts, at a time of
increased public interest. The page is no longer maintained, although the
Court of Appeal and High Court judgments are available on Judicial
Decisions Online, and the Supreme Court judgments on Courts of NZ. The
page included links to the Employment Court’s website and the District
Court’s website.

 

Your sincerely

Chris Hurd

   

 

Chris Hurd

Senior Solicitor | Office of Legal Counsel
[2]www.justice.govt.nz

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/judgments/
2. http://www.justice.govt.nz/

Dear Ms Whittome

I refer to the previous correspondence on this matter.

By way of context for the answers that follow, one of the Ministry of Justice’s functions is to provide administrative support to the courts. Of relevance to your request, the Ministry maintains the courtsofnz website, but the content is determined by the judiciary and the Ministry is not usually involved in or consulted about decisions on content. The Ministry received some general information from the judiciary about the covid 19 judgments page, which I passed on to you in my previous response.

The four questions you asked in your original request, and the Ministry’s responses, are as follows:

1. Prior to this page’s removal, would you please supply all the criteria for publishing a "Covid 19 related judgement" on this page of court decisions page: https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/judgments...

The Covid 19 related judgments page pulled together in one place judgments relating to Covid 19 that were already published on various court websites. So, in essence, the criteria was that it was a significant judgment relating to covid 19 that was already published.

2. Would you kindly share the reasons why the following case which took place in the public court in 2022 which is Covid-19 related are not available on the NZ Courts decisions finder? -Whittome v Taupo Tennis and Ors CIV-2022 -069-000021,

This is a District Court decision and, as previously advised, is currently being considered for publication online. More specifically, the decision is one of a number that are awaiting the decision of a judge on whether they should be published online. In the interim, the judgment can be requested from the Taupo District Court under the District Court (Access to Court Documents) Rules 2017.

3. Kindly share the memos, minutes and decisions which came about for the above publishing criteria of the page for "Covid-19 related Judgements.

The Ministry was not involved in decisions around what was put on the covid 19 judgments page, and does not hold any memos, minutes or decisions relating to it.

4. Kindly share the memos, minutes and decision which came about for the removal of this page that used to be on your website https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/ judgments/covid-19-related-judgments/

The Ministry was not involved in decisions to remove the covid 19 judgments page, and does not hold any memos, minutes or decisions relating to it.

Your sincerely
Chris Hurd

Chris Hurd
Senior Solicitor | Office of Legal Counsel
www.justice.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Erika Whittome <[FOI #24466 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 28 February 2024 11:28 am
To: Hurd, Chris <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Publishing of Covid-19 related judgments

Dear Hurd, Chris,
The information has still not been supplied in the questions 1-4. There are just broad statements and no principles of Open Justice.

Yours sincerely,

Erika Whittome

-----Original Message-----

Dear Ms Whittome

 

I refer to your complaint to the Ombudsman about the Ministry’s response to your request for information about the criteria for publishing judgments.

 

Decisions on what judgments get published, and the criteria for publication, are made by the judiciary, not the Ministry.  The Office of the Chief Justice has provided the following information of relevance to your request:

 

Judgments of Public Interest – Courts of NZ website

The Courts of NZ website publishes all decisions from the Supreme Court, and some decisions from the Court of Appeal and High Court under a fast-tracked publishing process called [1]Judgments of Public Interest (JPI). The website also links to judgments of public interest from other courts’ websites – specifically the Employment Court and the District Court.

 

The following are applied in determining whether a judgment is published as a judgment of public interest:

o There has been regular media attendance during trial o There has been reporting of the case during trial o Media organisations have made a specific request for the judgment o A judge has directed delivery of a copy to a specific media outlet.

 

JPIs from the High Court and Court of Appeal remain on the website for 90 days, after which they are available on Judicial Decisions Online (JDO).
All Supreme Court decisions remain on Courts of NZ permanently. All JPIs are accompanied by a Tweet from the Courts of NZ Twitter (now X) account.
Some JPIs are accompanied by a media release to assist in understanding of the judgment.

 

Courts of NZ “COVID-19-related judgments” page

The courts dealt with a number of pandemic-related matters at the time of the pandemic. The COVID-19-related judgments page was published to provide improved access to decisions issued by the senior courts, at a time of increased public interest. The page is no longer maintained, although the Court of Appeal and High Court judgments are available on Judicial Decisions Online, and the Supreme Court judgments on Courts of NZ. The page included links to the Employment Court’s website and the District Court’s website.

 

Your sincerely

Chris Hurd

   

 

Chris Hurd

Senior Solicitor | Office of Legal Counsel [2]www.justice.govt.nz

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/judgments/
2. http://www.justice.govt.nz/

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #24466 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

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-------------------------------------------------------------------

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Dear Erika

Please see the attached response. I was having issues with the hyperlinks so put it in letter format.

Yours sincerely
Chris Hurd

Chris Hurd
Senior Solicitor | Office of Legal Counsel
www.justice.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Erika Whittome <[FOI #24466 email]>
Sent: Friday, 15 March 2024 7:11 am
To: Hurd, Chris <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Publishing of Covid-19 related judgments

Dear Chris,
Thank you for your reply in which you say: “the content is determined by the judiciary and the Ministry is not usually involved in or consulted about decisions on content”

Are there times the Ministry of Justice is ever involved ? Your response says “ Not usually involved” which is unclear. It leaves me with doubt. My original question was around the criteria for a Covid case to be published on the ministry of justice’s website and the statement “the Ministry is not usually involved” is very unclear.

I can only come to the conclusion that cases in Covid litigation are being kept secret by the judiciary because I have listed examples of a small number of hidden cases in this OIA and a previous OIA, and during the course of my OIAs on these publication decisions, the “Covid cases” page has mysteriously disappeared from the Ministry of Justices website.

Would you please confirm that it is not ever the ministry of justice making these decisions to publish but only the judiciary themselves? “Not usually involved” is very unclear.

Yours sincerely,

Erika Whittome

-----Original Message-----

Dear Ms Whittome

I refer to the previous correspondence on this matter.

By way of context for the answers that follow, one of the Ministry of Justice’s functions is to provide administrative support to the courts. Of relevance to your request, the Ministry maintains the courtsofnz website, but the content is determined by the judiciary and the Ministry is not usually involved in or consulted about decisions on content. The Ministry received some general information from the judiciary about the covid 19 judgments page, which I passed on to you in my previous response.

The four questions you asked in your original request, and the Ministry’s responses, are as follows:

1. Prior to this page’s removal, would you please supply all the criteria for publishing a "Covid 19 related judgement" on this page of court decisions page: https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/judgments...

The Covid 19 related judgments page pulled together in one place judgments relating to Covid 19 that were already published on various court websites. So, in essence, the criteria was that it was a significant judgment relating to covid 19 that was already published.

2. Would you kindly share the reasons why the following case which took place in the public court in 2022 which is Covid-19 related are not available on the NZ Courts decisions finder? -Whittome v Taupo Tennis and Ors CIV-2022 -069-000021,

This is a District Court decision and, as previously advised, is currently being considered for publication online. More specifically, the decision is one of a number that are awaiting the decision of a judge on whether they should be published online. In the interim, the judgment can be requested from the Taupo District Court under the District Court (Access to Court Documents) Rules 2017.

3. Kindly share the memos, minutes and decisions which came about for the above publishing criteria of the page for "Covid-19 related Judgements.

The Ministry was not involved in decisions around what was put on the covid 19 judgments page, and does not hold any memos, minutes or decisions relating to it.

4. Kindly share the memos, minutes and decision which came about for the removal of this page that used to be on your website https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/ judgments/covid-19-related-judgments/

The Ministry was not involved in decisions to remove the covid 19 judgments page, and does not hold any memos, minutes or decisions relating to it.

Your sincerely
Chris Hurd

Chris Hurd
Senior Solicitor | Office of Legal Counsel www.justice.govt.nz

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #24466 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

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