Court of Appeal of New Zealand

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand, known in Maori as Te Koti Pira o Aotearoa, is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand and the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice most appeals end at this level rather than reaching the Supreme Court. The court has existed since 1862, but until 1957 it was made up of High Court judges sitting in rotating panels; in 1957 it was reconstituted as a permanent court separate from the High Court and it began hearing cases in 1958. It sits in Wellington and has courtrooms in Auckland, and it consists of the President and nine other judges. Panels of five judges form a Full Court, panels of three form a Permanent Court, and a Divisional Court pairs one Court of Appeal judge with two High Court judges. It hears civil and criminal appeals from the High Court and serious cases from the District Court.