Lawyers are fearful of being attacked at court and want urgent improvements to courthouse designs to keep them safe.
In March 2023 Family Court lawyer Brintyn Smith was brutally attacked in the Whang?rei courthouse lift, leaving him with multiple injuries – including a fractured sternum, nose and thyroid, extensive bruising to the face and a concussion.
In May, a lawyer was attacked in the Levin courthouse, and in early September an Auckland barrister waiting in a corridor at the Auckland District Court was punched to the ground, kicked in the head and stomped on.
The Law Association says many lawyers were scared of attacks due to the rising number of unpredictable and unruly people coming through the court system.
The physical design of most courthouses offered little to no protection, vice president Julie-Anne Kincade KC told Nine to Noon.
Lawyers in each district had been discussing how things could be improved, raising problems like tight spaces, a lack of security cameras in lifts and stairwells, and frosted glass in interview rooms so security guards could not monitor them, she said.
They were described as critical but easily fixable issues.
“That can add to the stress that everyone will always feel coming to court. If you add to that some of the financial issues people are having, maybe they have mental health issues, you really do have a tinderkeg [sic] of problems which are then sort of squashed together in one place.”
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New Zealand: Lawyers call for changes following courthouse violence
