Tribunals ‘working well’

Press, 8 July 1986, Page 8

Tribunals ‘working well’

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington Recommendations for a number of improvements to Small Claims Tribunals are contained in an evaluation done by the Policy and Research Division of the Justice Department. The evaluation found that by and large the Small Claims Tribunals were perceived by their users to be working well. However, there needed to -be changes to their jurisdiction, Improvement in the selection -sf referees, and improvement

In referee and court staff training. The Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer, said the evaluation had been done to see if the original objectives of. the tribunals were being met and, if so, how their effectiveness could be improved. While most early overseas tribunals had retained the use of judges, and some had even continued with lawyers and normal judicial procedures, New Zealand had set up a simple, informal and inexpensive form of commonsense justice dispensed by lay referees. After 10 years, the

number of tribunals had increased from three to 36, he said. They were now an accepted means of settling disputes and it was time for their track record to be assessed and improved.

The evaluation recommends that the jurisdiction of the tribunals be extended, the monetary limit raised regularly to keep pace with inflation, but that the jurisdiction should not include claims for debts. It found a need for the selection of referees to be widened to include more women, more young people, more Maoris and

Pacific Islanders, and more people from lower socio-economic groups. The evaluation says that training for referees should include mediation and arbitration, small claims law and procedures, relevant consumer law, and a background in Maori and Pacific Island cultures.

Court staff are also seen as being in need of training in the technical aspects of small claims work, the techniques of giving advice, and in helping disputants. There also needs to be a wider distribution of informatiorf, better procedures, renear-

ings, appeals and enforcement.

Mr Palmer said that now the evaluation was complete he had arranged for a senior lecturer in the law faculty at the University of Canterbury, Ms Jane Chart, to direct a review of the tribunals. As part of her work, a review of the Small Claims Tribunal legislation was planned, he said.

The departmental evaluation is in the form of a 137-page discussion paper and a 470-page research transcript Both are available from the department in Wellington.