THE NEW ZEALAND FAMILY COURT ‐ AN OVERVIEW

• Published date: 01 June 1987
• Author: S. R. Cartwright
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.174-1617.1987.tb00159.x
• Date: 01 June 1987

THE NEW ZEALAND FAMILY COURT

-

AN OVERVIEW

S.

R.

Cartwright*

Almost four years ago at

a

time when the basic

structure of the New Zealand Courts was being altered

fundamentally, the opportunity was taken to establish

a

Family Court. At the same time the legislation and

methods of resolving conflict in the New Zealand family

were reviewed. Like many other countries New Zealand

had been experiencing an apparent rise in conflict in the

family and in a search for ways to cope with rapid social

change by the time

a

Royal Commission on the Courts

was established in

1976

there was considerable pressure

for change in the system by which disputes in the New

Zealand family were settled. It was as the result of the

recommendations of this Royal Commission that many

of the far reaching changes were introduced in

1981.

Structure

of

the Family Court:

In

1981

for the first time in New Zealand’s history

the Court of first instance-the District Court-created

three specialist jurisdictions-General, Jury Trials, and

Family Court. In each of those jurisdictions Judges tend

to specialize in that particular area of judicial work with

some overlap of general matters such as crime, traffic,

civil and children’s court.

Personnel in the Family Court:

The most notable aspect of the structure

of

the newly

created Family Court was the provision for specialized

assistance for the Judges who would preside. The legisla-

tion provided for considerable emphasis on counselling

before the parties to a family dispute were permitted to

air their grievances in Court. The counselling service

chosen by the Minister of Justice to provide the most

assistance to the Court was The New Zealand Marriage

Guidance Council, a body which throughout New Zea-

land for many years has had

a

proud history of volun-

tary counselling and education services to the New

Zealand family. Its members receive training and are

expected to contribute at least five hours counselling

or

other work each week in order to maintain accreditation.

Its volunteers are drawn from the whole of the New

Zealand community but because they are unpaid tend

now largely to be from those groups who are most able

to afford to work

so

hard for no money.

Because the Marriage Guidance Council cannot pro-

vide some of the more specialized counselling and thera-

peutic services the Minister of Justice has recognized the

need to draw on counsellors, therapists and those who

would provide specialist psychological, psychiatric, medi-

*S.R.

Cartwright is

a

Judge, assigned to the New Zealand

Family Court, Auckland, New Zealand.

29

cal and other relevant reports to the Court by paying

professionals in the community.

The legislation establishing the Family Court set up

a

brand new position to be known as the Counselling

Coordinator. This person draws on her experience in

her local community in establishing

a

broad list of help-

ing agencies and specialist services and also has the

function of helping educate the community as to the

role

of

the Family Court and its services. She will

usu-

ally recommend the type of counselling service to which

a

couple might be referred.

In custody, access and guardianship disputes the

Court will normally appoint

a

solicitor

to

act for the

child or children concerned, to be independent of both

parents, to fact find on behalf

of

the child, let the Judge

know the child’s wishes

if

he

or

she is mature enough to

express them and generally to ensure that the child’s

welfare is not overlooked in the dispute between its

parents. Solicitors are drawn from those in private prac-

tice in the local community and are paid by the Justice

Department at a negotiated rate depending on seniority

and expertise.

The Court staff who work in the Family section of

the Court receive some training to assist in coping with

angry and distressed people and are also encouraged to

help those people who wish to file and follow through

their own applications for orders without consulting

a

solicitor. This is particularly

so

when an applicant is

asking for an order dissolving

a

marriage.

Finally there is the Family Court Judge. In the Fam-

ily Courts Act

1980,

section

5(2)

states:

“A

person shall not be appointed to be

a

Family Court Judge unless-

(a) He is, or is eligible to be,

a

District

Court Judge; and

(b) He is, by reason of his training,

experience, and personality, a suit-

able person to deal with matters of

family law.”

When the new Family Court swung into action on

1st October

1981

there were,

I

believe,

18

newly ap-

pointed Family Court Judges, most of whom had been

drawn from the existing ranks of the District Court.

Family Court work has since then become specialized

and addictive. Most of

us

remain totally absorbed by

the interest of the work, by its complexity and its variety.

Appeals from the Family Court are as a rule on the

notes of evidence to the High Court. The exception to

that is the appeal from a custody, access

or

guardian-

ship decision. Those appeals are by way of complete

CONCILIATION COURTS REVIEW/VOLUME

25,

NUMBER l/JUNE 1987