IMPROVEMENTS to the way courts work and are housed in Auckland were announced when Courts Minister Rick Barker opened a new jury assembly area and criminal registry in the Auckland High Court on 2 June.

Auckland accounted for 35% of reported crime in New Zealand and 30% percent of all district court trials, Rick Barker said. "The government is committed to delivering first class court services in the nation's largest city and timely access to justice for all New Zealanders."

To achieve that, the government had developed the Auckland Service Delivery Programme, which aimed to address workload pressures through a long-term strategy for service delivery in the region.

Budget 2008 allocated $6.3 million to enable the Ministry of Justice to engage in detailed design and planning of the project. That funding would allow detailed design and development of full business cases for a number of initiatives, including:

• 24-hour, seven-day assistance through service centres handling high-volume enquiries, correspondence and applications;

• dedicated civil and family courthouses;

• purpose-built jury trial courthouses;

• progressive expansion of electronic filing, including further work to investigate electronic filing in the criminal summary area and the Environment Court.

"This model would improve access to services by better meeting forecast demand and improve safety by separating civil and criminal matters," Rick Barker said.

"The Auckland Service Delivery Programme will also explore the possibility of establishing a community justice centre in South Auckland to ensure greater community involvement and broader services including social services are more available to address background factors in lower-level criminal offending."

The refurbished Auckland High Court areas would improve the conditions of the criminal registry staff and the service they provided. "The jury assembly area will be used by up to 150 jurors every two weeks and can also be used for other purposes, such as training and victim support," the Minister said.