Specialist Courts and Tribunals

Specialist Courts

Employment Court

New business has increased over the past year, mainly in the Christchurch registry, as a result of delayed Employment Relations Authority determinations. The Court has disposed of fewer cases than it received. Thus, the number of active cases on hand for the Employment Court has increased from 154 cases at the end of June 2012 to 174 at the end of June 2013.

Disputes between parties continue to be more complex with an increasing number of matters that had to be decided before the substantive hearing could be held. The Court notes that these complex cases are largely lodged in the Auckland registry and reflect an increasing willingness of parties to invest in litigation.

Environment Court

Filing trends remain consistent with recent years, with 489 cases filed in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013, which is 2% lower than the previous year.

The number of appeals filed is still low overall, reflecting both the current lower level of resource consent applications filed at council level, and the irregular nature of plan and policy review work initiated by councils across New Zealand. Before the year ending 30 June 2011, the court had dealt with an average of about 800 cases per year.

The court disposed 661 cases in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013, which in conjunction with the lower numbers of new business has seen the number of active cases decrease from 905 in June 2012 to 743 at the end of June 2013.

Coronial Services

There has been a 9% decrease in referrals to the Coroner, with 5,477 referrals in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013 compared to 6,023 in the 12 months ending 30 June 2012.

The number of cases resolved was 5,978, which is 6% higher than the previous year. As a result, the number of cases on hand has decreased from 3,453 cases at the end of June 2012 to 2,959 at the end of June 2013.

Māori Land Court

There were 5,735 new cases received by the court in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013. This is a decrease of 4%, compared to the previous year. Over the same period, the court increased its disposal of cases by 10% or 6,100 cases, compared to 5,521 cases in the 12 months ending 30 June 2012. 

The 4% decrease in cases has allowed the court to pro-actively manage its aged case load, focussing on cases older than 12 months, which resulted in a higher disposal rate. This corresponded with an 8% decrease in cases on-hand, with 4,728 cases at the end of June 2013.

Tribunals and Authorities

Tenancy Tribunal

The Tenancy Tribunal accounts for 66% of new business in the tribunals and authorities administered by the Ministry of Justice (excluding Disputes Tribunal figures, which are reported separately). New business has decreased by 13% with 24,489 applications lodged in the 12 months ending 30 June 2012, compared to 21,203 in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013.

The tribunal disposed 22,108 cases in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013, compared to 24,371 in the previous year.

Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority

The Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority represents 15% of new business for tribunals and authorities, compared to 22% in the 12 months ending 30 June 2012.

While in the first three months of operation there were over 11,000 applications for licences and certificates, in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013 new business has slowed, as expected, and there were only 5,317 applications; a 39% reduction compared to the same time last year. The Authority has disposed 5,555 applications in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013, a decrease of 52% compared to the previous year.

Immigration and Protection Tribunal

The Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT) represents approximately 4% of the tribunals' and authorities’ new business in 2013. The IPT received 1,263 cases during the 12 months ending 30 June 2013, which represents a 10% decrease in cases received compared to 12 months ending 30 June 2012. This is probably due to less residence applications being submitted to Immigration New Zealand in the 12 months ending 30 June 2013. A total of 1,130 cases were disposed during the 12 months ending 30 June 2013 and there are now 1,278 cases on hand.

Disputes Tribunal

Compared to the 12 months ending 30 June 2012, the 12 months ending 30 June 2013 year has seen a:

• 3% decrease in new claims to 16,044
• 2% decrease in the disposals of claims to 16,374
• 11% decrease in the number of active claims to 2,965

There appears to be a continued downward trend in Disputes Tribunal cases over the last two financial years.  This is thought to be due to the economic climate, with less domestic consumer spending resulting in fewer consumer-related disputes.

Statistics