Timaru’s finest export, University of Otago Law Facult Professor Mark Henaghan, has said that more can be done to reduce delays in processing civil cases through the court system.
Professor Henaghan, Dr Saskia Righarts and Rachel Laing have recently authored a preliminary study on civil case progression times which reported that despite signs of increased efficiency in the courts, some cases took an average of 608 days to resolve.
Henaghan said that in some instances, excessive time was being spent on “discovery” – where pertinent facts or documents must be disclosed to the opposing party in a civil suit. He described it as “ridiculous” that some parties could “drip feed” documents over an extended period of time, delaying the whole process. New York State requires disclosure within five weeks for fraud cases and strong sanctions are imposed on those who are too slow to respond, said Henaghan.
Law Study Released
