NZ Supreme Court
On the first of January 2004 New Zealand introduced a new court system, establishing a Wellington based Supreme Court to replace the London based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The new court will stand as the final appellate court in the New Zealand judicial system, with its own judges and separate premises, sitting above the Court of Appeal. ... I will elaborate on these arguments and perceptions comparing the different positions people have taken, and discuss how the system will work and what sections of the new court could be structured better in the opinion of the references used. Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, as the head of the New Zealand judiciary, heads the court and will normally be the presiding judge. ... The selection and appointment of the judges has fuelled a debate about the risk of appointments to the Supreme Court being politically influenced. ... There have been two ideal solutions suggested, the first is that a broad-based, non-biased judicial commission makes appointments to the Supreme Court. ... The point is argued that judges appointed to the New Zealand Supreme Court, that stands second only to Parliament demand scrutiny, and a wide level of support. Only then will the court be seen as politically neutral. ... nz). The average cost for the Crown to take an appeal to the Privy Council is approximately $100,000 compared with $20,000 to take a similar case to the Court of Appeal. ... (Reshaping NZ’s Appeal Structure). ... With the Commencement of the New Zealand Supreme Court, the traditional roles of the Privy Council will be preformed- error correction, clarification and development of law with the bonus of being able to hear appeals from a far wider range of lower court decisions. Meaning criminal, employment, environmental and family court matters will get the opportunity to use the Supreme Court, enabling more litigants to access the right to appeal. ... Only two of those cases were considered issues relevant to the Treaty of Waitangi, and another five cases were relevant in terms of Maori rights and interests (A new Supreme Court).