High Court - criminal trials - waiting time for scheduled hearings as at 31 December 2024

Registry   Cases with Scheduled Hearing Average Days Median Days
Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau 42 486 474
Whangarei Whangārei-terenga-parāoa 9 546 591
Rotorua Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe 19 545 530
Hamilton Kirikiriroa 7 463 510
Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara 9 405 423
Napier Ahuriri 4 437 444
Palmerston North Te Papaioea 6 428 483
Whanganui Whanganui 2 427 427
Gisborne Tūranganui-a-Kiwa 1 416 416
New Plymouth Ngāmotu 3 477 465
Nelson Whakatū . . .
Blenheim Te Waiharakeke 1 451 451
Christchurch Ōtautahi 6 601 586
Timaru Te Tihi-o-Maru 1 601 601
Dunedin Ōtepoti 2 445 445
Invercargill Waihōpai 1 685 685
Greymouth Māwhera . . .
National Total   113 494 485

Definitions

Waiting time - in days (including weekends) is only calculated for a registry when at least one trial was scheduled for a future substantive hearing.


HC criminal trials

For jury or judge-alone trial cases, the waiting time is defined as the time from the first appearance in the High Court to the first scheduled trial date.  

This data excludes three very large cases of alleged drug offending, where time to trial has extended due to factors outside the Court’s control, and which are not representative of time to trial in the High Court.

Waiting time figures exclude retrial cases.