Explanatory note
This note is not part of the rules, but is intended to indicate their general effect.
These rules come into force on 1 September 2017. They replace the substantive provisions of Part 3 of the District Court Rules 2014 and Part 6 of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2012, which set out the rules governing access to court documents in the custody or control of the District Court relating to civil proceedings, criminal proceedings, and appeals (court documents).
There is a concern that the existing rules are unduly complex and do not give sufficient guidance about the approach to be taken when assessing requests by the public for access to court documents. These rules therefore—
simplify the provisions setting out the court documents that may be accessed, and by whom, and how and when they may be accessed:
include more specific guidance for Judges about how they are to balance different considerations when assessing requests for access to documents (rules 12 and 13):
align with the Senior Courts (Access to Court Documents) Rules 2017, which come into force at the same time as these rules, with the end result that the rules governing access to court documents in the custody or control of the District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court are consistent across all courts.
Under these rules, all substantive decisions on requests for access to documents by members of the public will be made by a Judge, rather than by a Registrar, unless a Judge first considers the request and decides that it is appropriate for the request to be referred to a Registrar for determination under rule 11(7)(c).
Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.
Date of notification in Gazette: 10 August 2017.
These rules are administered by the Ministry of Justice.