How long will the courts take to respond to my request?

How long it takes depends on the court

There are over 50 courts in the Courts of New Zealand (the courts). Unfortunately, each court has different wait times.

In general, it can take several weeks for the court to locate court records. It can take longer if:

• the records are in another court  
• stored in a different location
• the records are from before 2003 (the Court’s current case management system was introduced in 2003).

If the records are in another court, your request will need to be transferred to that court. If your request needs to be transferred, please be aware that the time it takes for this to happen is different for each court. Requesting court records can bring up a range of emotions. You may want to seek legal support or find support from support and advocacy groups to help you through this process.

Requests for records relating to guardianship or care can take longer than other requests 

All requests for court records from cases relating to the care of young people are considered by a judicial officer. A judicial officer (also a judge or registrar) is a person with the responsibilities and power to make decisions about how laws are applied.

These requests can take longer than other court document requests, usually over several weeks.