These are the District Court annual statistics for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
The District Court deals with about 195,000 matters a year. The statistics capture most of these and are an indication of the court’s workload. The figures are updated and published every six months to reflect both the January–December (calendar) year and July–June (financial) year, and are broken down as follows:
All criminal proceedings in New Zealand begin in the District Court. Only the most serious offences are referred to the High Court, and all others…
The criminal jurisdiction makes up the largest proportion of the District Court's work. Most defendants will go through the entire justice process in a District…
The right to trial by jury is protected in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Jury trials are reserved for more serious crimes,…
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. About…
The Family Court is the second biggest division of the District Court. Working under 36 Acts of Parliament, its jurisdiction spans family matters from before birth…
The civil jurisdiction of the District Court resolves disputes between individuals or organisations. A person who feels they have been wronged may bring a claim and,…
Glossary of statistical termsHere you will find definitions of terms used in relation to statistics on this website. Terms are included in order of general,…
Data for reporting is provided by the Ministry of Justice and may contain data entry errors. The data is gathered from a dynamic database which means…
This website explains many of the things you might want to know if you are coming to the Youth Court, or just wondering how the Youth Court works.
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Ministry of Justice website with information on family issues including about going to court, forms and other times when you may need help.
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For information about courts and tribunals, including going to court, finding a court & collection of fines and reparation.
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On this site you will find information about our Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court including recent decisions, daily lists and news.
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