This Bill amends the District Court Act 2016 to increase the maximum number of District Court Judges that can be appointed at any time from 160 full-time equivalents to 182 full-time equivalents.

Over the past few years, the District Court’s workload has increased significantly due to an increase in both the volume and complexity of the court’s work. As District Court Judges are required to deal with most cases, more judges are needed to help manage the increased workload.

In addition, the Youth Court’s jurisdiction has been expanded to include 17 year olds. Additional judges are required because the rehabilitative focus of the Youth Court is more resource-intensive than adult court processes.

The Ministry of Justice is required to prepare a disclosure statement to assist with the scrutiny of this Bill. The disclosure statement provides access to information about the policy development of the Bill and identifies any significant or unusual legislative features of the Bill.

A copy of the statement can be found at http://legislation.govt.nz/disclosure.aspx?type=bill&subtype=government&year=2019&no=148

The Ministry of Justice produced 2 regulatory impact assessments in 2016 to help inform the policy decisions taken by the Government relating to the contents of this Bill (to the extent that they relate to expansion of the Youth Court’s jurisdiction).

A copy of these 2 regulatory impact assessments can be found at—

• https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/constitutional-issues-and-human-rights/regulatory-impact-statements/

• http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/informationreleases/ria