Closing six earthquake-prone district court buildings for up to a year is going to cause chaos, the Labour Party says.
Justice spokesman Charles Chauvel says temporary courts should be set up rather than shifting trials to other centres.
The Ministry of Justice said on Wednesday it was closing district court buildings in Balclutha, Oamaru, Rangiora, Upper Hutt, Masterton and Feilding because engineering reports said they were at risk.
Trials are being shifted to main centres and Mr Chauvel says that shouldn't happen.
"The speedy administration of justice, already a shaky proposition at the best of times, will be prejudiced," he said on Thursday.
"Trails may fall over, victims of crime may be forced to wait longer for their cases to be heard and thousands of people will be forced to travel elsewhere for relocated hearings."
Mr Chauvel says the court buildings were considered safe last week and the ministry had acknowledged they weren't in imminent danger.
"Either the courts should reopen immediately and priority remedial work scheduled for the December/January period, or temporary courts need to be opened in those locations," he said.
NZN