Disputes Tribunal website lags behind

IT’S BEEN more than two years since the Disputes Tribunal published a case on its website.

The tribunal, which has in recent years heard as many as 20,000 cases a year, is a lawyerfree zone where ordinary people can present cases to a referee on commercial wrongs done against them and get quick justice in cases involving claims for $15,000 or less, or $20,000 if both parties agree.

But being a lawyer-free zone, the published cases, which are searchable on the tribunal’s website, are needed by people considering taking action and planning how to present their cases.

But the most recent cases available to the public were added to the database in August 2010.

A statement from the Ministry of Justice said: ‘‘We are reviewing the decisions online to make sure that the main areas of interest are covered off. Because the decisions need to be made as anonymous as possible that takes some time so 2011 and 2012 will be added in due course.’’

There is no timeline for new cases to be added, though Sunday Star-Times understands it is not because it is not known what cases should be added.

It has long been the practice for decisions of interest to be circulated among tribunal referees to help them keep up to date with the thinking of other referees sitting on cases, and ensure a level of consistency in tribunal findings.

But the delay in putting up recent cases to help applicants to the tribunal does not sit comfortably with the Community Law Centres of Aotearoa.

Chief executive Elizabeth Tennet said: ‘‘I think it is certainly fair to say that they should be doing it. It is a lack of service from them.

‘‘I don’t think it would be too hard. It is obviously a matter of resources.’’