The NZ High Court hears the more serious and complex criminal and civil cases. It also hears appeals from lower courts and tribunals. The civil jurisdiction accounts for approximately 60% of the court’s overall workload, and the criminal jurisdiction for around 40%. The High Court in Auckland deals with around 40% of the High Court’s overall workload.
The Ministry of Justice has just released national court workload statistics for the 2012 calendar year.
Ministry statistics show that there was a 5.1% fall in the number of civil cases filed in the High Court in 2012 from the previous year.
They show that there was also a 3.4% decrease in the number of civil cases which were disposed of in the High Court in 2012 when compared with 2011.
The Ministry notes that while there was a decrease in the overall number of civil cases disposed of, there was a 14% increase in the number of civil cases disposed of by trial over the same period.