District Court Jury Trial Workload Statistics

Data from CMS as at 07 Feb 2014 (Pre-CPA)

Data from CMS as at 06 Jan 2014 (CPA) 2013

Includes CPA and Pre-CPA data

Cases In Cases Out Totals
  Jan - Dec 2013 Jan - Dec 2013 Jan - Dec 2013 31-Dec-13
  New Jury Cases Other Transfers In Disposals Transfers Out Cases In Cases Out Active
Auckland DC 510 55 681 53 565 734 422
Blenheim DC 28 2 44 6 30 50 18
Christchurch DC 212 21 234 16 233 250 154
Dunedin DC 93 4 116 8 97 124 46
Gisborne DC 74 9 101 15 83 116 26
Greymouth DC 22 1 30 3 23 33 15
Hamilton DC 195 27 269 13 222 282 156
Invercargill DC 65 8 71 7 73 78 41
Kaikohe DC 69 10 73 17 79 90 44
Manukau DC 322 42 397 43 364 440 279
Napier DC 138 12 144 10 150 154 64
Nelson DC 107 9 72 10 116 82 71
New Plymouth DC 76 8 90 10 84 100 49
Palmerston North DC 64 25 96 9 89 105 45
Rotorua DC 101 9 125 7 110 132 56
Tauranga DC 161 19 191 15 180 206 94
Timaru DC 27 3 31 3 30 34 17
Wanganui DC 74 14 107 13 88 120 54
Wellington DC 246 25 321 24 271 345 184
Whangarei DC 86 19 131 14 105 145 71
Total Jury Courts 2,670   3,324       1,906

Note: Trials held at Papakura DC are assigned to Manukau DC where they are managed

Note:

This table is a subset of the DC and YC Courts combined table

The Criminal Procedure Act 2011 came into force on 1 July 2013. It changed the landscape for criminal cases.

Prior to July 2013, charges were laid summarily or indictably, which effectively determined the path they followed in Court. Historical reporting was created based on the pathways that cases were expected to follow - criminal summary, indictable pre-committal, and indictable post-committal (jury trial). Cases were counted as "new business" and "disposals" within each of these court processes. Transfers into a process were counted as new business, and transfers out as disposals. Reporting was based on parts of the criminal process, and never on the whole.

New reporting reflects a holistic approach, focussed on total criminal cases, and on the subsets with special requirements: District Court jury trials, Youth Court cases and cases to be tried and/or sentenced in the High Court.

A case is now counted as new business when it first comes into the system, that is when charges are filed. It is counted as a disposal only when it has final charge outcomes for all its charges. Reporting of annual statistics from July 2013 uses new terminology in order to count transfers between courts and parts of the process: "cases in" alongside "new business" and "cases out" alongside "disposals".

New Business/"Cases In"

Criminal Total - District Court and Youth Court combined & Youth Court only

"Cases In" is the sum of cases filed, cases where a retrial has been directed, severed cases and cases transferred into the court. At court location level, they also include 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.

Jury Trial (subset of total)

"Cases In" is the sum of cases where an election of jury trial has been made (if required) and the case review process completed, cases committed for trial (under the pre-CPA process), cases where a retrial has been directed, severed cases and other cases transferred into the court. At court location level, they also include 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.

Disposals/"Cases Out"

Criminal Total - District Court and Youth Court combined & Youth Court only & Jury Trials

"Cases Out" is the sum of cases where sentencing or other final outcomes are established on all charges, cases where all the charges are joined into another case, and cases transferred out of the court. At court location level, they also include transfers to other parts of the country.

This includes cases where the defendant was convicted and sentenced or discharged, or the case dismissed, withdrawn, or stayed. It excludes cases put on hold due to the issuing of a warrant to arrest the defendant.

Total active

Criminal Total - District Court and Youth Court combined & Youth Court only & Jury Trials

Active cases are those which are awaiting trial or are awaiting sentencing or other final outcome, and are not On Hold due to the issuing of a warrant to arrest the defendant.

This includes cases where the defendant is yet to appear in court, or yet to make a plea, the case is in the review process, or the case is awaiting a pre-trial decision.