Courtroom violence: Ministry of Justice ups security in courts after spate of brawls, assaults

Security measures in New Zealand’s courtrooms are being strengthened after a spate of violent outbursts in which lawyers and police officers have been injured.

The New Zealand Law Society, the organisation that regulates lawyers, sent its members a newsletter about the changes and what barristers needed to know.

Each courtroom would have its own new safety processes and the law society would give information-packs to lawyers about how to manage these.

“They also share simple and effective ways for lawyers to keep themselves safe in the courtroom,” the Law Society said.

The Ministry of Justice, being responsible for New Zealand’s courts, has been approached for comment.

‘F***ing arrest them all’ – lawyer during courtroom brawl

Armed police responded to one courtroom brawl in the High Court at Wellington.

The scuffle on February 8, 2024 lasted 30 seconds before security broke it up, but it spilled out on to Molesworth St, also outside Parliament.

Two people were injured after the defendant in a murder case was escorted back to the cells and the near-full public gallery started yelling, prompting the fight.

A member of the victim’s family tried climbing the two-metre perspex screen separating the courtroom from the public gallery before security pulled them down. Many of the rest of the two groups scuffled with one another in the gallery.

The fight forced the judge to leave the room and a defence lawyer told security to “f***ing arrest them all”.

In another incident, a family lawyer was seriously injured and sent to hospital after an assault at the Whangārei District Court.

The lawyer frantically pushed the emergency button inside a lift as they were assaulted on March 9 last year.

Local lawyer and Northland Criminal Bar Association co-chairman Wayne McKean called the assault “shocking” and said the victim would have felt vulnerable in the lift.

A police officer, a Corrections officer and a prisoner were injured during an explosive brawl in the High Court at Napier in September.

Video footage of the melee showed one Corrections officer trying to hold back a mob of people at the partition between the public gallery and the rest of the courtroom.

One man clambered over the glass gate separating the public from the courtroom.

Other members of the public, all crowded at the glass partition, watched as a shirtless man leaned over a table, his legs flailing in the air, and appeared to swing punches at a person huddled under the desk.

The shirtless man then allegedly began stomping the person as another Corrections officer tried to pull him away by his arm.

Amid all the yelling and screaming in the courtroom, one person could be heard yelling “f***ing smash him” as the man is alleged to repeatedly stomp on the victim’s back.

Meanwhile, another person appears to throw several punches at the victim.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.