By ELIZABETH BINNING
Concerns that cases would have to be adjourned after three senior Auckland judges were seconded for the Pitcairn Island sex-abuse trial are already becoming a reality.
This week at least 10 cases that were set down for hearing in the Manukau District Court have been put off until next year because not enough resources were available to hear them.
The adjournments have frustrated police officers, witnesses and lawyers who spent the day waiting at court on Tuesday then were told the cases would not be heard.
Some witnesses had been flown to Auckland for the cases. Others had shut their businesses for the day to give evidence.
Police officers who had worked night shifts had come in on their day off to give evidence. All the witnesses will have to come back on the rescheduled dates.
Lawyers in two of the 11 cases heard on Tuesday applied - unsuccessfully - to have their cases thrown out on the grounds they had taken too long to be heard.
One lawyer said an accused man who has been remanded in custody since the beginning of the year was released on bail, partially because of the length of time it will take for his case to be reheard.
Prosecuting Sergeant Paul Watkins said it was very unusual to have so many "big and important" cases adjourned.
Although he praised the court staff who had to deal with all the cases, he said it was difficult for the witnesses and victims, many of whom just wanted closure in cases that were more than a year old.
Lawyers the Weekend Herald spoke to said the court was always overbooked but things had become worse since judges Charles Blackie, Russell Johnson and Jane Lovell-Smith went to Pitcairn to sit as Supreme Court judges for the duration of the sex-abuse trial.
A fourth, South Auckland-based, judge is also understood to be out of the country, working in Vanuatu for a year. It is not known if he has been replaced.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the impact of the three judges' absence was being managed.
"This includes daily monitoring of workload and the redeployment of judges to meet priority demands, as necessary."
The ministry would not comment further on how many judges had been redeployed or why there were not enough resources to hear the 10 cases on Tuesday.
Feared court delays begin to bite
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.