Strike action by court staff ‘bites’
Deena Coster
Strike action by court staff is starting to ‘‘bite’’ in Taranaki, says the region’s law society president.
Industrial action by court staff around the country has ramped up, as the Public Service Association and the Ministry of Justice try to negotiate a pay claim.
Court staff are seeking an 11 per cent pay rise over two years while the ministry had budgeted for a three per cent increase this year, followed by the same in 2019.
Action was first mooted in September and has seen the court staff involved working to rule, taking part in lightning strikes and voting to support bans on other work related to their role.
Caroline Silk, the Taranaki branch president of the New Zealand Law Society, said members of the region’s bar were concerned about the ongoing impact of the industrial action.
She said sentencing dates were being pushed out by two and a half months, which meant offenders were not being dealt with in a timely manner along with victims.
‘‘There could also be an impact on sentencing with perverse situations where people end up serving longer on remand than any actual sentence imposed.’’
Other impacts include court hearings in the family, criminal and civil jurisdictions, being moved or changed at short notice, Silk said. This especially impacted on clients who had paid for, prepared and travelled for hearings, only for them to be put off.
‘‘We appreciate that strikes are designed to be disruptive, however the impact is starting to bite and we encourage parties to consider the serious impact the strike is having on the administration of justice and to encourage parties to continue to look to resolve their differences,’’ she said.
This week, Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue reassured the public the nation’s judges were doing what they could to minimise the disruption.
‘‘It is a challenging and dynamic environment at the best of times, and a prolonged dispute places extra stress on the District Court when it is already under heavy workloads and intense pressure,’’ she said.
As a result, a host of measures will be taken, where possible, by the country’s district court judges.
They include judges sitting earlier in the day, ensuring people held in custody are dealt with at the beginning of a court list and giving priority to sentencing matters where offenders are on remand.
Doogue has also asked judges to clearly mark the court record whenever a case is deferred or adjourned because of the industrial dispute, to enable a more accurate assessment of its impact.