The Youth Court deals with offending by young people aged 14–17 years and may deal with younger children, aged 12–13 years, in certain serious circumstances.

From July 2019 the youth justice age has extended to 17 years except for the most serious offences.

About 20–30% of children apprehended by Police come to the Youth Court. The rest are managed by Police Youth Aid and the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki. With a few exceptions, the Youth Court can hear and determine all charges against young people.

Youth Court statistics are recorded by number of cases rather than young people because each case may involve several charges or young people.

It should be noted that the Youth Court is a specialist division of the District Court. Its processes, practices and statutory principles are markedly different to those of District Court cases involving adult defendants. The Youth Court process does not follow the standard criminal process of appearance, conviction and sentence. Cases are often not disposed of quickly, and higher clearance rates are not always seen as an optimum outcome.

Statistics by Court location

The following table shows the number of cases by location. A case is counted as new business when it first comes into the system, when charges are filed. It is counted as a disposal only when all charges within the case reach a final outcome. Since July 2013, transfers between courts have been included in the count. Therefore, the “Cases In” category covers both new business and transfers in to a court from another court, while “Cases Out” includes disposals and transfers out.

Definitions:

• "Cases In" is the sum of cases filed and at a court level, also includes transfers from other parts of the country.

• It excludes cases reactivated in the court due to the execution or withdrawal of a warrant to arrest.

• "Cases Out" is the sum of:
  • cases where final outcomes are established on all charges;
  • cases where all the charges are joined into another case; and
  • at court level, they also include transfers to other parts of the country.

• It excludes cases put on hold due to the issuing of a warrant to arrest the young person. 

• Active cases are those which are in the Youth Court process and/or are awaiting a final outcome and are not on hold due to the issuing of a warrant to arrest the young person.

Youth statistics for the 2019/2020 fiscal year (ending 30 June 2020) as a spreadsheet:

Youth Statistics 2019-2020 [XLSX, 18 KB]