The Right Honourable Dame Helen Winkelmann
Chief Justice of New Zealand
Te Tumu Whakawā o Aotearoa

8 June 2020
Dear practitioners
COVID-19 - movement to Alert Level 1
I write to update you on court arrangements for Alert Level 1.
The Alert Level 2 protocols for all courts will be suspended from midnight tonight. New
protocols are currently with the profession for consultation and will be posted by
Wednesday afternoon.
Pending the posting of those protocols I can confirm that from tomorrow onwards physical
distancing will not be enforced in courts. However current hygiene measures will be
maintained, as will contact tracing.
Over the next couple of days, the Ministry of Justice will be finalising implementation of QR
Code contact tracing. Until that is in place, paper-based contact tracing will be continued.
For the first two days of Alert Level 1 (Tuesday and Wednesday) there may be delay at the
entry to courthouses as manual tracing records are completed. We therefore encourage the
profession to encourage clients to keep numbers of supporters attending at court to a
minimum on Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid congestion at the entry and queuing.
Each court’s protocol for Alert Level 1 will address arrangements for filing.
Nationwide, jury trials will begin in the District Court and the High Court in the first week of
August (with late July in the District Court in Dunedin).

Supreme Court of New Zealand   Te Kōti Mana Nui
85 Lambton Quay   Wellington
PO Box 61   DX SX 11224
Telephone 64 4 918 8222   Facsimile 64 4 914 3560

 I thank the profession for its continued engagement with the judiciary as we have worked
through the various operational challenges created by COVID-19. Our ability to continue to
administer justice throughout this period is due to the work of and cooperation between
the judiciary, the profession and the Ministry of Justice.

Hei konā mai i roto i aku mihi,

Helen Winkelmann
Chief Justice/Te Tumu Whakawā