Section 231 — District Court Act 2016: Regulations providing for waiver, etc, of fees

231 Regulations providing for waiver, etc, of fees (1) In order to promote access to justice, the Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make regulations authorising a Registrar or Deputy Registrar to waive, reduce, or postpone the payment of a fee required in connection with a proceeding or an intended proceeding (including a proceeding in a Disputes Tribunal), or to refund in whole or in part a fee that has already been paid. (2) Regulations made under subsection (1) must provide that a Registrar or Deputy Registrar may exercise a power under the regulations only if he or she is satisfied on the basis of prescribed criteria that— (a) the person responsible for payment of the fee is unable to pay or to absorb the fee in whole or in part; or (b) unless 1 or more of those powers are exercised in respect of a proceeding that concerns a matter of genuine public interest, the proceeding is unlikely to be commenced or continued. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), regulations may prescribe criteria— (a) for assessing a person’s ability to pay or to absorb a fee; and (b) for identifying proceedings that concern matters of genuine public interest. (4) No fee is payable for an application for the exercise of a power specified in subsection (1). Compare: 1947 No 16 s 123(1)(ba), (bb), (2)