Adams AmyTHIRD READINGSHon AMY ADAMS (Minister of Justice): I move That the Arbitration Amendment Bill the Senior Courts Bill the District Court Bill the Judicial Review Procedure Bill the Interest on Money Claims Bill the Electronic Courts and Tribunals Bill the Bills of Exchange Amendment Bill the Building Societies Amendment Bill the Children Young Persons and Their Families Amendment Bill the Companies Amendment Bill (No 2) the Contractual Remedies Amendment Bill the Copyright Amendment Bill (No 2) the Courts (Remote Participation) Amendment Bill the Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill the Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 4) the Family Courts Amendment Bill the Insolvency Amendment Bill the Local Government (Rating) Amendment Bill the Property Law Amendment Bill the Remuneration Authority Amendment Bill (No 2) the Resource Management Amendment Bill Te Ture Whenua Maori Amendment Bill and the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Amendment Bill be now read a third time. New Zealand has a strong and independent justice system that serves New Zealanders well but its legislation needs to be more accessible and better supported by modern technology. The changes we are making in this legislation will make our courts more transparent and allow them to be modernised while preserving their traditions and upholding the rule of law. At 23 separate bills across more than 1000 pages this is one of the largest pieces of legislation Parliament has ever dealt with in one go. It replaces one of New Zealand's oldest statutes still in force the 108-year-old Judicature Act and modernises the principal statute that governs our courts. This overhaul is made necessary by rapid changes in both society and technology and a need to ensure that our justice system keeps up with the demands of the 21st century. This legislation forms part of the Government's commitment to making sure our justice system can be more flexible and modern and that it better meets the needs of New Zealanders. It will increase flexibility for court users enhance the clarity and transparency of the court system bring about more modern ways of working and allow courts to transact electronically in the future. The legislation we are considering today includes five new bills and 18 amendment bills. The key provisions follow the Government's consideration of the 2012 Law Commission report on its review of the Judicature Act. The legislation retains much of the existing provisions of our court statutes but in more modern language and in a rearranged format. The legislation also introduces important new provisions. I would like to turn first to the bills that will become the five new Acts. Firstly the Senior Courts Bill brings together in a single bill the statutory provisions for the High Court the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court that were formerly set out in the Judicature Act 1908 and the Supreme Court Act 2003. These provisions will be expressed in modern language and be made more accessible. The High Court Rules which regulate the practice and procedure for civil proceedings in that court remain part of the new Senior Courts Act but will be published separately under the Legislation Act 2012 as the High Court Rules 2016 and as if they were a separate statutory instrument. This will make them more accessible to all court users. The process for amending or replacing them will not change. The District Court Bill continues the District Courts as a single District Court while retaining its specialist divisions of the Family Court the Youth Court and the disputes tribunal. The District Court of New Zealand will be Australasia's largest court hearing more than 200000 matters every year. The general civil jurisdiction of the District Court increases from $200000 to $350000. This is the first revision of this limit since 1992. As a result more parties will be able to choose to litigate in the District Court instead of the High Court. The Judicial Review Procedure Bill relocates the Judicature Amendment Act 1972 into a stand-alone Act. This new Act continues the important constitutional statutory provisions under which an affected person may check the legality of the exercise of power by the executive and other public bodies. The Interest on Money Claims Bill replaces the existing statutory provisions for the award of interest-on-money claims with a more comprehensive scheme. This new scheme will both deter prolonged disputes and ensure creditors are more fairly compensated. The proposed Interest on Money Claims Bill is based on the recommendations of a 1994 Law Commission report and its implementation is long overdue. The Electronic Courts and Tribunals Bill enables greater use of electronic documents in proceedings allowing people who use and work in New Zealand's courts and tribunals to benefit from modern technology by being able to create submit and receive court documents electronically instead of on paper. The 18 amendment bills will amend other statutes by relocating the existing provisions from the Judicature Act and the District Courts Act to where they will be more accessible by extending the new accountability provisions included in the Senior Courts Bill and the District Court Bill to the specialist courts to ensure consistency across the judiciary and by consequentially amending a number of related statutes. This major revision of our courts statutes ensures a greater degree of consistency for common provisions. This is particularly important as a number of new provisions have been introduced to improve the transparency and accountability of our courts system. These provisions include the requirement for the Attorney-General to publish information on the judicial appointment process even when the Attorney-General does not have responsibility for nominating appointments to a particular bench. For each court the head of bench will be required in consultation with the Chief Justice to develop and publish certain information on reserved judgments as well as guidelines to assist judges to decide whether they should recuse themselves from hearing a proceeding. The legislation distinguishes three categories of information generated by the courts and the Ministry of Justice and clarifies the access conditions for each of those categories. The legislation also enables the sharing of certain court record information between agencies through approved information-sharing agreements prescribed by the Privacy Act. This sharing of information will help Government agencies to provide better services to New Zealanders by being able to identify risk to spot patterns and to tailor services to suit. The legislation also clarifies contempt of court provisions and the restrictions on commencing or continuing proceedings deemed to be without merit. The passing of this legislation marks a significant step in enabling New Zealand's courts to provide modern accessible people-centred justice services. I believe we are well served by our independent courts. Our courts and the judges and the judicial officers who work in them ensure that the rule of law prevails in our society. They are a vital part of our democracy. Many people have contributed to developing this important legislation. I want to thank those members of the community the legal profession and the judiciary who made submissions and of course the members of the Justice and Electoral Committee who worked diligently to examine the legislation. I would also like to acknowledge the work of the Parliamentary Counsel Office which has done an extraordinary job with such a large piece of legislation and my own officials in the Ministry of Justice who have put countless hours into this important piece of work. It is with great pleasure that I commend these 23 bills to the House.