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- Title
THE CREATION, FLOURISHING, EVOLUTIONARY DECLINE AND STRANGE DEATH OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF NEW ZEALAND 1858-1909.
- Authors
FINN, JEREMY
- Abstract
This article investigates the history of the District Court in New Zealand between its creation in 1858 and its closure in 1909, a history that has hitherto been largely neglected by historians. It argues that the creation of the District Court was largely a response to the problems of providing an adequate but cheap court structure for the widespread colonist settlements away from the major cities. It later acquired both a most important bankruptcy jurisdiction and a supervisory jurisdiction over the goldfields' courts, features which prolonged its existence despite the increased jurisdiction of the different Magistrates' Courts. The history of the Court, and its judges, is reflected in accounts of cases heard by the courts and by an analysis of the shift from part-time judges who continued to practice as barristers to judges who also served as Resident Magistrates, many of the latter being very inexperienced as lawyers. The article concludes with an examination of the relative volumes of litigation in the Magistrates' and the District Court which shows that litigants increasingly preferred to take their disputes to the former court. The District Court was then closed on the grounds of economy, ironically reflecting the main reason for its creation.
- Subjects
DISTRICT courts; HISTORY of courts; JUSTICE administration -- History; BANKRUPTCY jurisdiction; NEW Zealand history -- 1853-1876
- Publication
Canterbury Law Review, 2019, Vol 25, p95
- ISSN
0112-0581
- Publication type
Article