The Minister of Justice has announced that community magistrates are to be appointed. The magistrates will be appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of community panels made up of a sitting magistrate, a Court registrar, a representative of the local district law society, and community representatives, including a representative of local Maori. While they will not need to be legally trained, there will be no bar on legally qualified people applying to be magistrates, provided they are not currently practising. Community magistrates will sit in pairs and, at times, in venues other than courthouses.
First appointments are likely to be made towards the end of next year.