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District Court Jury Trial workload statistics

Cases In  Cases Out  Totals  
  Jul 2015- Jun 2016  Jul 2015- Jun 2016  Jul 2015- Jun 2016  30-Jun-16
  New Jury Trials Transfers In Disposals Transfers Out Cases In Cases Out Active
Auckland DC 523 25 525 44 548 569 321
Blenheim DC 48 3 38 4 51 42 37
Christchurch DC 218 11 189 7 229 196 151
Dunedin DC 120 3 94 5 123 99 67
Gisborne DC 68 3 47 9 71 56 55
Greymouth DC 22 0 18 4 22 22 13
Hamilton DC 306 13 213 10 319 223 231
Invercargill DC 81 1 95 2 82 97 52
Kaikohe DC 67 2 41 4 69 45 58
Manukau DC 509 19 395 19 528 414 409
Napier DC 123 7 106 5 130 111 79
Nelson DC 126 7 121 5 133 126 108
New Plymouth DC 43 3 42 1 46 43 32
Palmerston North DC 86 5 45 9 91 54 64
Rotorua DC 134 8 131 11 142 142 78
Tauranga DC 144 3 92 10 147 102 94
Timaru DC 25 2 16 0 27 16 24
Wanganui DC 123 8 110 3 131 113 93
Wellington DC 191 12 260 12 203 272 151
Whangarei DC 85 7 98 6 92 104 67
Total Jury Courts 3,042   2,676       2,184

 

Note:                             
This table is a subset of the total Criminal Courts 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, focused 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".
                           
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"                            
"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                            
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.