Sharp drop in Family Court cases

The number of new criminal cases in the Whangarei District Court was lower than in the previous year. Photo / Thinkstock

The number of cases referred to the Whangarei Family Court have dropped markedly following changes to court procedures, new figures show.

The Family Court had eight fewer new cases and 162 fewer active cases than in the previous financial year, according to information obtained from Courts of New Zealand.

As the court was freed up by less new matters, more cases were able to be resolved - up 187 cases to 2122 year-on-year.

Court procedures were changed at the end of March to divert disputes involving the care of children away from the court to a mediation process wherever possible.

The changes were intended to reduce the stress on children and families by avoiding the conflict, delays and expenses of court.

Carol Peters from Community Law Whangarei said the changes had placed a greater emphasis on getting people to resolve issues outside of court.

The number of new criminal cases in the Whangarei District Court was also lower than in the previous year. Ms Peters believed a greater general focus on attempting to sort things out through mediation had probably also helped bring the number of new criminal cases down.

Last month, Whangarei lawyer Mike Gardam told The Northern Advocate that Northland had had a similar success rate to the 80 per cent success rate in Family Court dispute resolutions nationwide.

According to the latest figures, new and active applications in the Family Court increased slightly across New Zealand but the number of disposals or resolutions decreased.

District Courts had fewer new, ongoing and disposed criminal and civil cases than in the previous year.

Fewer new criminal cases nationwide could be attributed to the police's greater use of pre-charge warnings that aimed to divert lower end offences away from prosecution and court proceedings, the Courts New Zealand report said.

The number of District Court jury trials was also down, while the number of cases held in the Youth Court fell to an historical low.

Court of Appeal and High Court cases were down, while the number of cases the Supreme Court heard was up.

Statistics New Zealand data showed conviction rates were the lowest in the 34 years for which statistics had been available year ending June 30.

Acting general manager of the justice sector Dean Rutherford said police, Ministry of Justice and Department of Corrections were working together and with other agencies to reduce crime.

At the end of March this year the total crime rate was down by 16 per cent, and Youth Court appearances were down 30 per cent, Mr Rutherford said.

The number of cases before the courts was expected to continue to decline.