Chief District Court judge to hear cases

A visit to Queenstown by Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue next month has no connection to long waiting times for criminal trials in the resort, a spokeswoman says.

In a written statement, a Wellington-based media adviser said Justice Doogue would hear trials in the Queenstown District Court for a week in March to ''help out''.

The timing of the visit was not influenced by concerns raised by a Queenstown barrister last year that many defendants were waiting for more than a year to go to trial, she said.

That waiting time rose from four months in 2013 to more than nine months in 2015.

Last June, barrister Liam Collins said the resort needed to be allocated more judge time to address delays caused by the district's rapidly rising population and visitor numbers.

Mr Collins said defendants facing criminal charges were choosing to plead guilty when told about the long wait, even when they believed they were innocent.

Queenstown does not have a resident judge, but instead is covered by visiting circuit judges from Invercargill.

However, Justice Doogue's spokeswoman said that like the principal Family Court judge, principal Youth Court judge and national executive judge, Justice Doogue was a sitting judge who fulfilled administrative and courtroom duties.

''All members of the bench help out where they can to ease pressure on the judicial roster and to spread the workload around the country.''

A chief District Court judge last sat in the Queenstown District Court in 2012, she said.

Meanwhile, one of Queenstown's visiting circuit judges, Christina Cook, transferred to the Tauranga District Court this week.

The spokeswoman said Judge Cook took the role to be closer to family in the North Island. She had been replaced by Judge John Brandts-Giesen, who, since his appointment to the judiciary last August, had been based at the Christchurch District Court.

Another visiting judge will be sitting in the Queenstown District Court this month.

Judge John Hassan, an Environment and District Court judge based in Christchurch, will hear civil cases for a week from February 13.