Te Tari Whakatau Take Tika Tangata Office of Human Rights Proceedings Report to the Minister on the Director of Human Rights Proceedings’ decisions The Director of Human Rights Proceedings is required to report annually to the Minister on the Director’s decisions following applications for free legal representation in the Human Rights Review Tribunal (Tribunal).16 The reporting year has been another busy one for this small Office consisting of four legal staff, the Director’s Executive Assistant (who manages the Office) and law student clerks. The first and second quarters of this reporting year saw the Office with a heavy litigation caseload absorbing the entire legal team at times. Given our small size, any significant piece of litigation is likely to impact our ability to provide efficient services on other matters. Of interest, the Office acted in a four-week hearing in the Tribunal which was interpreted into New Zealand Sign Language and made available to the public via livestreaming. To our knowledge, this was the first of its kind in the Tribunal and we are grateful to the Tribunal Secretariat for achieving this. and 2020) (Privacy Act) in the Tribunal. He was also the Acting Director of Proceedings at the Health and Disability Commissioner’s office. Mr Robins’s appointment has already borne fruit with improved processing times of decisions. The Director congratulates him on his appointment and thanks him for his efforts to date. We have been concerned about the impact of our litigation caseload on the efficient delivery of decisions on applications for legal representation. In order to improve that efficiency, the Director has established a new process for considering applications. This has involved the appointment of a Deputy Director of Human Rights Proceedings to largely manage this process. Mr Greg Robins was appointed to this role. Mr Robins has significant experience in this jurisdiction and has been counsel on several cases under the HRA and the Privacy Act (1993 Of course, with additional resources, this Office could take on more litigation for members of the public. However, the Office of Human Rights Proceedings has had no significant investment or review of its operations since its creation over 20 years ago. It may be timely to consider whether the current resourcing framework continues to meet the needs of those seeking access to justice in this jurisdiction. 16 38 Tumuaki Whakatau Take Tika Tangata Director of Human Rights Proceedings Michael Timmins Under s 92A(4) of the Human Rights Act 1993 (HRA) the Director must report to the Minister at least once each year and, without referring to identifiable individuals concerned, on the Director’s decisions under s 90(1)(a) (applications for representation in the Human Rights Review Tribunal in respect to enforcing settlement) and s 90(1)(c) (applications for representation in the Tribunal in respect to complaints under the HRA). Pūrongo ā-tau Annual Report 2023