Dust settles, justice once again dispensed
After six years, Dunedin’s historic courthouse will finally reopen.
Dunedin’s Stuart Street Court will have its first formal sitting on 26 January, the New Zealand Law Society reported. The courthouse is currently closed after an extensive fortification against earthquakes.
Before the sitting, the judiciary and the profession will have a procession from the Town Hall at 1pm. In the evening, the Otago Branch of the Law Society will hold a ball to celebrate the reopening of the courthouse.
The building was closed in December 2011 after it was deemed to be at high risk if even a moderate earthquake hit the area.
The retrofit of the building was greenlighted by the Cabinet in 2015, which stopped some functions of the judiciary that stayed in the Victorian Gothic building until that year.
In 2016, then Justice and Courts Minister Amy Adams confirmed $20m was earmarked in the government’s budget to strengthen the building and give it a much needed technology and security upgrade.
Cases and hearings have been held on High Street and at John Wickliffe House throughout the time the building has been closed.
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