The man accused of the Christchurch terror attack is facing 50 murder charges and 39 attempted murder charges - and has now hired two Auckland-based lawyers to help defend him.

Police have announced the fresh charges against the accused, who is due to appear in the High Court in Christchurch today. They said other charges are still under consideration.

Criminal lawyer, Steve Bonnar QC, told Mike Hosking the trial is unprecedented in New Zealand in terms of scale. 

"One can only think of, in recent memory, the [David] Bain trial which involved five homicide, so this is 10 times that."

"But it's important to remember a lot of the evidence will be common to all 50 murder charges. The difference between each murder charge will really be the differences related to each victim."

Bonnar said the case is pretty straightforward from a legal point of view.

"This is a complicated case in terms of scale but it's not necessarily hugely complicated legal issues. Murder is a reasonably well-known charge in New Zealand and the issues are fairly settled."

"Murder is one of, if not the most, serious crime in our criminal calendar and every time a person intentionally kills another person - that's a murder."

There is also the potential that the judge might split the trials to make it less traumatic for the jury.

"If the judge thinks it's going to be too hard on a jury to deal with all 50 murders and all 39 attempted murders in one trial, it would be possible for the judge to split the trials up into chunks of trials, dealing with 10 at a time."

He said today's court appearance is mostly procedural.

"It will be a scheduling sort of day today, there will be a determination of the next court date and any scheduling and administrative matters that need to be dealt with."

The High Court received 12 applications from both New Zealand media and foreign organisations to film, take photographs, or make audio recordings at Friday's hearing.

But Justice Cameron Mander declined the applications.

In a minute issued to the media this week, he said factors in making his decision to refuse the requests were to preserve the integrity of the trial process and ensure a fair trial.

Journalists will, however, be permitted to remain in the courtroom and take notes, while newspapers and broadcasters are still able to use images of the accused which were taken at the District Court hearing.

But those images will remain pixelated after an order by Judge Paul Kellar for the defendant's face to be blurred in any published images. The order will remain in force until further ruling by a judge.

Will the accused be in court in person on Friday?

No. The 28-year-old accused terrorist was remanded in custody at his first appearance and has since been held at New Zealand's only maximum security prison in Paremoremo, Auckland.

Justice Mander ruled the accused will appear in court on Friday via audio-visual link from prison instead.

This is not an uncommon practice - people appear in courts all across New Zealand everyday by way of a television screen.

What will happen? Will he enter a plea?

The accused will not be required to enter pleas to charges he currently faces.

There is also the possibility the Crown will seek to try him under the seldom-used Terrorism Suppression Act, which was introduced after the September 11 US terrorist attacks.

Section five of the legislation defines what a terrorist act is.

It states that it must be intended to cause death or destruction in one or more countries, be carried out for the purpose of advancing an ideological, political or religious cause, and intended to induce terror in a civilian population or compel a government to act.

Prosecutors would require the consent of the Solicitor-General to lay terror charges against the accused.

The purpose of the hearing on Friday will be to determine the alleged killer's legal representation status and to receive information from the Crown.

The Herald earlier reported the Australian man will represent himself in court.

Friday's hearing will also be largely procedural, with timetabling and future dates allocated by the judge.

Will the hearing be open to the public?

Justice Mander has ruled that because the hearing will be primarily procedural and administrative, much of it will take place with the court sitting in chambers.

This will mean members of the public will not be allowed into the courtroom during this time. Only the judge, lawyers, defendant, court security, police officer in charge of the case and media are permitted to stay.

Under the Criminal Procedure Act any New Zealand judge also has the power to clear their court of the public. This most often occurs in cases when a complainant gives evidence in trials of a sexual nature.

The judge has the ability to exclude people when it is necessary to avoid undue disruption to the proceedings.

Other reasons to close the court include; a real risk of prejudice to a fair trial, endangering the safety of any person, prejudicing the maintenance of the law - including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences - and when a suppression order is not sufficient to avoid that risk.

A judge can further clear their court if they believe it will avoid prejudicing the security or defence of New Zealand. This is the only type of order which also forces members of the media to leave.

Those allowed to remain in court regardless of any of order are a jury, prosecutor, the defendant, any lawyer engaged in the proceedings, an officer of the court, and the police officer in charge of the case.

The alleged terrorist's first appearance in the District Court was closed to the public.