The four-month trial for 11 parties charged with health and safety breaches leading up to the Whakaari / White Island eruption will be held in the Environment Court in Auckland.
The eruption occurred on 9 December 2019. Photo:
Twenty-two people died and dozens of others were seriously injured when the volcano blew in December 2019, as tourists walked around the crater.
Those who have pleaded not guilty and who will go on trial against WorkSafe charges are: the island's owners, the Buttles, GNS Science, and tourism companies including White Island Tours Limited and helicopter tour operators.
Judge Evangelos Thomas delivered his decision in the Whakatāne District Court this morning, saying there were no other court venues available in Aotearoa to accommodate the scale of the trial starting in July next year.
The court has the power to either transfer proceedings to another district court or direct that a trial is heard at another venue, and others can witness it via video link.
He said to those in Whakatāne: "We do not want you to lose your connection to this case.
"The district court here in Whakatāne will still have an important role to play, in establishing and maintaining a hub, just as it has done for all of the hearings that we've had so far."
He noted that Auckland was "considerably more convenient for parties, witnesses, lawyers and registry staff".
It would cost less because very few on the current witness list were based in Whakatāne, he said.
WorkSafe prosecutor Kristy McDonald QC has previously said: "This is one of [the], if not the most, significant criminal trials to be held in the District Court in New Zealand."
She said: "It's in that context that the choice of venue is so important."
A charge against the National Emergency Management Agency was dismissed last month.
Tour company Inflite pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was sentenced in March.
Judge Thomas fined the company $227,500 and ordered it to pay prosecution costs of $40,000.
The Buttle family are seeking to have their charges dismissed.