Appeals to the District Court

When you can appeal

A community housing provider (CHP) may appeal to the District Court in relation to our decisions affecting registration, such as refusing registration or suspending or revoking registration, or refusing to revoke registration where this has been requested by the CHP.

Any appeal must be within 28 days after the decision appealed against was made.

An alternative to appealing to the District Court is trying to resolve your issue with CHRA through dispute resolution options.

How to appeal

The District Court Act 2016(external link) and the District Court Rules 2014(external link) apply to an appeal against our decisions, with any necessary modification that the Court thinks fit.

Please read Part 18 of the District Court Rules(external link) for further information.

You can make an appeal by filing a Notice of Appeal in the District Court in Wellington, or another District Court agreed with CHRA, within 28 days of the decision that is being appealed. A copy of the Notice to Appeal must be provided to the Manager of Authority.

District Court decision

The District Court can decide whether to hold the hearing in private or public, and whether to order certain parts of the proceedings not to be made public.

If the Court allows the appeal, deciding in favour of the CHP, then it can modify or reverse our decision, make further orders, or return the matter to us for further consideration and decision. 

Effect of appeal

The act of commencing an appeal does not put the decision appealed against on hold, unless the District Court orders otherwise.