20 Aug 2012

Audit of Family Court problems ordered

9:36 am on 20 August 2012

The Government has commissioned an urgent audit of changes to the Family Court in Auckland, following criticism from lawyers.

The law fraternity says the transfer of files from six courts to two central hubs in February has caused errors and delays.

It says centralising the court system has resulted in case files being sent to the wrong places, protection orders going unserved and hearings being delayed.

The Law Society says the system is fundamentally flawed.

Courts Minister Chester Borrows says attempts have been made to fix the glitches, which were initially thought to be teething problems.

He says a decision was made on Friday to undertake an urgent audit of the scale of the problems and more should be known by the middle of the week.