Te Ao Mārama is a judicially led District Court kaupapa that partners with iwi and communities to work with the court and justice sector agencies to ensure all court participants, including victims and whānau, can understand and better take part in the cases that relate to them. It will benefit everyone who attends the District Court and timely justice is a central feature.
Te Ao Mārama literally means the world of light and signals a more enlightened approach to justice in the District Court.
It is focused on Family Court care and protection, care of children and family violence cases, the Youth Court and the adult criminal jurisdiction. This is based on decades of evidence, reports and judicial advice that suggest changes and improvements in these areas will have the greatest impact.
It is especially focused on supporting children and families who are at greatest risk when engaging with the family and criminal justice systems. Te Ao Mārama has significant potential to reduce the number of children in care, the number of children who offend in the medium term, and the number of young people who enter the adult criminal jurisdiction in the longer term – all contributing to a long-term enduring reduction in offending and reoffending and the costs of crime.
Timely justice is fundamental to this kaupapa. Lengthy delays for those waiting for their cases to be heard carry a human toll for everyone involved.
Te Ao Mārama recognises every court appearance must be meaningful to participants. Using best practice approaches should reduce unnecessary adjournments.
There are many factors across the whole justice sector that contribute to backlogs and the District Court is committed to addressing them, including through the priority-based rostering of judges and scheduling of cases it introduced last year.
Te Ao Mārama is inclusive of everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, culture, abilities, who they are or where they are from.
It responds to repeated calls for transformative change over the past four decades and long-standing concerns expressed by victims, defendants, parties to proceedings and wider whānau members that they have found District Court processes confusing, alienating, disempowering and retraumatising.
Te Ao Mārama helps judicial officers and court staff to support victims in better ways. For example, there are more opportunities for victims and their whānau to speak during the court process.
Te Ao Mārama partners with iwi and communities to design and deliver whānau wrap-around service solutions to meet each community’s diverse needs. It builds from existing services in the community, rather than duplicating them.
Te Ao Mārama requires no changes to the law and does not compromise the independent mana of the judiciary, justice sector agencies or iwi and the community. It is not a new court; it is a new way of working for the District Court and everyone who participates in it.
Based on experience in our own and overseas specialist courts, the impacts of Te Ao Mārama will include:
Judicial officers and court staff are being supported to learn and put into practice the new approaches and processes needed for Te Ao Mārama.
Some District Court locations are already working in ways that contribute to Te Ao Mārama, including through specialist courts and dedicated lists such as:
In addition, Whakaorangia te Mana Tangata is a whānau-centred initiative designed and provided by local iwi or iwi-mandated service providers to support Māori defendants, victims and whānau through the court process. It is in Kaitāia, Gisborne and Kaikohe.
Te Ao Mārama is currently active in eight District Court locations: Kaitāia, Kaikohe, Whangārei, Hamilton, Tauranga, Gisborne, Napier and Hastings.
Best practice approaches can also be used in all 59 District Court locations.
Te Ao Mārama includes knowledge, skills and best practice approaches that we already know work well in specialist courts and dedicated lists, such as:
Certain courts and processes, such as Te Kōti Rangatahi, will also be introduced into Te Ao Mārama locations, unless agreed otherwise.
Te Ao Mārama Best Practice Framework(external link) sets out how Te Ao Mārama will operate.
Te Ao Mārama will also include approaches that are unique to each community — it brings the strength of iwi and communities into the court through partnerships to design and develop services to meet each community’s diverse needs.
Press release: Transformative Te Ao Mārama model announced for District Court (external link)
Norris Ward McKinnon Annual Lecture 2020(external link)
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