Ministry corporate and digital services deputy secretary Tina Wakefield said early plans for Rotorua focused on redeveloping the existing buildings.
"However, the council revitalisation plan to develop a green belt where the existing buildings are located gave us the opportunity to consider options for a new purpose-built court in a different location."
The Rotorua Lakes Council has been approached for details about the "green belt" and the revitalisation plan.
Wakefield said developing a new courthouse in partnership with the local community, the judiciary and local iwi and hapū was a massive undertaking and it was important to "do it once and do it right".
None of the ministry's early plans had been discarded and a full range of options was due to go to Cabinet next year.
The ministry has a 10-year plan that includes the major development of six courts around New Zealand.
"Recent focus has largely been on Tauranga and Whanganui but designing a courthouse to meet the needs of the Rotorua community is our next priority."
She said the ministry had already begun early engagement with iwi and interested parties.
Crown Solicitor Amanda Gordon, who hasn't been consulted on any recent plans, said it was disappointing no progress had been made in the past year.
"I appreciate that Covid-related issues have to take priority, but that should not mean that other things have to go on hold for so long."
She said it appeared the ministry was "starting from scratch again".
"A lot of consultation was undertaken with the last plans, and to be honest this all seems like a delaying tactic. The Covid issues have further highlighted simply how inadequate our courthouse is."
She said it seemed unlikely any decision would be made soon.
"That means a new courthouse will be years away. The current courthouse does not adequately meet the needs of any of the parties that use it and the situation is becoming more dire as time goes on."
Defence lawyer Tim Braithwaite said a lack of progress with the court was a serious frustration.
"The inadequacies of the court are well documented and shameful. The building needs urgent attention."
Braithwaite said since the proposed work was announced in 2017, building had stalled.
"If plans for a renovated/new courthouse are continuing the consultation process has been poor to non-existent."
Given Rotorua had to wait until Tauranga and Whanganui's courts were finished, Braithwaite feared it could be a decade before Rotorua's was finished.
"Given that the building is already failing, a delay of that nature is serious and will have serious impact on the administration of justice in Rotorua."
A juror's experience
A juror on a recent Rotorua trial has spoken about her disappointment with the courthouse building.
She said the initial jury selection was held at the Energy Events Centre as there was not enough room at the Rotorua Courthouse to safely socially distance all jurors in level 2.
"This meant extra resource was required to ferry the selected jurors back to the courthouse on buses."
She said jurors were expected to queue in public areas and some might have been intimidated as it was the same area as whanau and families of defendants and their supporters.
There was no shelter while you waited to be cleared by security to enter the building and she had heard previous jurors got "sopping wet" from rain by the time they got inside.
Jurors were in a room at the bottom of the courthouse but it didn't have a toilet, which meant the court attendant had to offer the jurors to use other facilities each time they entered and exited the jury room.
Each time they were called into the court, the attendant had to go along a long passageway and down a set of stairs to get them. They then had to make the long walk back to the courtroom. All of this took time as jurors were in and out of the courtroom frequently.
To enter the building each morning, they had to go to a back door area, go up some stairs, along a passageway and then down another flight of stairs to the small jury room.
"I imagine this may well have been difficult for some of our older and less physically able colleagues."
She said the cramped conditions in the jury rooms and the lack of facilities could be vastly improved.
"I say this not only for the comfort of the jurors but more for the waste of time getting the jury into and out of the courtroom itself.
"Also of concern is that when we were moving throughout the property, we often crossed paths with other parties."
