If you'd like to ask a question or give us feedback, please email us at the address below and we'll respond as soon as possible:

contactus@justice.govt.nz

Ministry of Justice Customer Charter

Here at the Ministry of Justice, our purpose is to deliver people-centred services to provide access to justice for all. A big part of how we do this involves the commitment of our people to provide great service to the public every day.

Our Ministry’s Customer Charter sets out what people can expect when they interact with us.

View our Ministry’s Customer Charter

Get in touch with us if you have any concerns

If you’re unhappy with any aspect of the service you’ve received from our Ministry, we want to know so we can work with you to resolve your concerns.

If you’ve been dealing directly with a Ministry of Justice staff member, we suggest you get in touch with them first. You can find their contact details on letters or emails you’ve received from them. The staff member will try to resolve the matter straight away. If they can’t, they may refer your concerns to the responsible Ministry Business Unit to consider.

How to make a formal complaint

If after talking with us you still have concerns, you can make a complaint:

• by email to complaints@justice.govt.nz
• in writing to the Ministry’s National Office:

National Office
Ministry of Justice SX10088
Wellington

Please include the following information with your complaint:

• Your first and last name (including company name if relevant)
• Your email address (contact phone number is optional)
• The details of your complaint. Please include the date of the incident and any other relevant information.

We may contact you if we need more information from you to progress your complaint.

The information you provide with your feedback or a complaint will be passed to the appropriate Ministry Business Unit for action, if appropriate. For more information, see:

Ministry of Justice Privacy Statement

There are some complaints we can't help with

Please note there are some complaints our Ministry doesn’t deal with.

These are complaints about:

• a judge or judicial officer - to make a complaint about the conduct of a judge or judicial officer, go to:

Judicial Conduct Commissioner(external link)

• a member of a tribunal - see:

Complaining about a member of a tribunal [PDF, 378 KB]

• a lawyer - contact the New Zealand Law Society:

Lawyers Complaints Service(external link)

• a legal aid lawyer – use the following form:

Make a complaint about a legal aid provider

• a Deputy Registrar when exercising their powers – see:

Review of registrar’s decision

• the outcome of a court case or legislated process – speak to a lawyer or go to:

Community Law Centre(external link)

What happens after you've made a complaint

Once we receive your complaint, we’ll send you an email or letter confirming we’ve received it.

We’ll investigate your complaint and contact you if we need more information. You should expect a response within 20 working days from the date we received your complaint.

If we need more information or the matter you’ve raised is very detailed or complex, we might need more time to make a decision. If we do need more time, we’ll let you know.

If you're unhappy with the outcome of your complaint

If you’re unhappy with our decision regarding your complaint, you have the right to raise your concerns with the Ombudsman.

Office of the Ombudsman contact details:

Freephone: 0800 802 602
Email: info@ombudsman.parliament.nz

Postal address:
PO Box 10152
Wellington 6143

The Ombudsman can consider complaints about the administrative acts and decisions of state sector agencies. The Ombudsman will ask you if you have first tried to resolve the matter with us directly and will consider whether you have any other remedy available.

The Ombudsman may consider your complaint and make a recommendation to us about the concern(s) you’ve raised.