More can be done to reduce one source of delays in processing civil cases through the courts, University of Otago Law Faculty dean Prof Mark Henaghan says.
Rachel Laing, Dr Saskia Righarts and Prof Henaghan are the authors of a recently published "preliminary study" on civil case "progression times" by the university's Legal Issues centre.
There were signs of increased efficiency in courts, but some cases took an average of 608 days to resolve, the report said.
Prof Henaghan said, in some instances, excessive time was being spent on "discovery"- the compulsory disclosure of pertinent facts or documents to an opposing party in a civil suit.
It seemed "ridiculous" that some parties could "drip feed" documents over an excessively long time, he said in an interview.
In New York State, courts dealing with fraud cases required disclosure within five weeks, with strong sanctions for those who were too slow to respond, he said.
