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In a move that barely ever happens, Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu has called a forum in Auckland next week to hear, directly and without filters, from criminal lawyers about what life inside an overloaded court system is actually doing to them and their work.
The session follows a pointed letter sent last year by The Law Association’s Criminal Law Committee, warning that current court practices were grinding down practitioners and, by extension, the justice system itself.
The forum will be held at the Auckland District Court Jury Assembly Room at 3pm on Tuesday, February 10. Criminal practitioners from Auckland, North Shore and Waitākere have been invited to speak frankly with Taumaunu and members of the bench about what is and is not working.
“This forum creates space for an open and respectful conversation about what criminal practitioners are experiencing on the ground,” said Criminal Law Committee convenor Julie-Anne Kincade KC.
The committee’s concerns highlighted the toll court processes are taking on lawyer wellbeing, with junior counsel and legal aid lawyers bearing the brunt. It pointed to the daily realities of criminal practice: broken continuity of representation, opaque decision-making, and the constant pressure to reconcile statutory compliance with basic principles of natural justice.
Also on the table is the issue of retention. If criminal practice keeps operating like this, the sustainability of the criminal bar is not a theoretical problem. It’s an approaching one.
Committee member Samira Taghavi said she expects a direct and constructive exchange.
“It is not often that the judiciary actively invites the profession to be heard in this way,” she said, noting the “relentless stress and more-than-occasional cruelty” lawyers can face within the system. “That willingness to listen matters, and it reflects a shared interest in making sure the criminal justice system works for everyone involved.”
To make attendance possible, Auckland courts will adjourn at 3pm on February 10. North Shore and Waitākere courts will sit only until lunchtime to allow practitioners time to travel.
