COURT AND TRIBUNAL HOURS – DECEMBER 2026 & JANUARY 2027

Courts and tribunals will be closed during the holiday period. Reopening dates vary, starting from Tuesday 5 January 2027, with all locations open by Monday 18 January 2027. Confirmed dates for each location are below.

If you have any questions, call 0800 COURTS (0800 268 787).

District Courts

Hearing Courts

Family Court

Mental Health

Arrest Courts

Electronically Monitored Bail applications

Urgent Harmful Digital Communications Act applications

Directions for conduct of court business during court holiday period 2026/2027 [PDF, 311 KB]

Special order closing district court registries [PDF, 478 KB]

District Court

Auckland, Blenheim, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne, Greymouth, Hamilton, Hastings, Hutt Valley, Invercargill, Levin, Manukau, Masterton, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, North Shore, Palmerston North, Porirua, Pukekohe, Queenstown, Rotorua, Tauranga, Timaru, Waitakere, Wellington, Whakatane, Whanganui, Whangārei:

Ashburton, Dannevirke Hāwera, Huntly, Kaikohe, Kaitāia, Morrinsville, Taihape, Taumarunui, Taupō, Thames, Tokoroa, Wairoa:

Alexandra, Gore, Papakura, Westport:

Hearing Courts

Chatham Islands, Dargaville, Kaikōura, Marton, Newmarket, Oamaru, Ohakune, Ōpōtiki, Ruatōria, Te Awamutu, Te Kūiti, Waihi, and Waipukurau:

Family Court

Family Courts will provide a national service for urgent applications over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Urgent applications will all be dealt with via the National eDuty platform. Court staff and duty judges have been allocated to deal with applications on the following days:  

All urgent Family Court applications are required to be submitted to the registry by 2.00pm (exception 12pm on 24 December) on the days above in order for them to be processed. Any applications received after that time will be considered the following court day.

The process for urgent Family Court applications will go back to normal on Tuesday 5 January 2027.

Mental health

Judges will be available to deal with any applications made to the Family Court for a review of a patient’s condition, section 16 of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.

Arrest courts

Any persons arrested over this period will be brought to the nearest available court for the initial appearance before a Judge, Community Magistrate or Justice of the Peace. “Arrested” includes those arrested on new charges, on warrant or for breach of bail.

If bail is sought and it is not within jurisdiction of the judicial officer presiding at the first appearance, then any remand in custody (unless there is consent otherwise) must be adjourned to the next working day. This will allow the bail application to be dealt with via AVL from the prison (or police station) to the nearest, or most convenient, court where a judge is rostered to sit.

Electronically Monitored Bail applications

The EM Admin team will be processing the applications throughout the Christmas and holiday period (only being closed on statutory holidays). Adult applications filed on or before the 10 December 2026 and youth applications filed on or before 17 December 2026 should be sent to the EM Bail team by 10:00am on the relevant filing date.

These applications may be able to be heard before Christmas, subject to court scheduling, hearing time availability and counsel availability.

Adult applications filed from 11 December 2026 and youth applications filed from 18 December 2026 should ideally be scheduled for hearing from 11 January 2027 onwards. Please ensure the EM Bail team is advised of any adjournments over the holiday period so arrangements can be made for potential equipment installation as early as possible.

If there are any queries regarding the above timeframes, please don't hesitate to contact the Electronically Monitored Bail Team, on 0800EMBAIL or emteamadmin@corrections.govt.nz

Urgent Harmful Digital Communications Act applications

Judges will be available to deal with any urgent applications filed under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 (HDCA) during the Christmas and New Year period.