Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The head of the District Court has set new targets for how long criminal cases should take to be completed.
Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu wants 90 percent disposed of within the new timeframes, which depend on the seriousness of the charges.
Those accused of category 3 offences like aggravated assault, threatening to kill or dangerous driving could expect a jury trial to be finished within 15 months, or a judge-alone trial within nine months.
Category 2 offences, like common assault or a first or second drink driving conviction, also had a nine-month completion target.
Meanwhile, category 1 offences which can only result in fines or community-based sentences (e.g. careless driving that doesn't cause injury or death), were to be disposed of within six months.
Currently, only 81 percent of the District Court's criminal cases were finished within those timeframes.
Judge Taumaunu said the new timeframes would reduce the criminal case backlog. He said wider justice sector leaders had agreed to support the District Court to reach the 90 percent standard by June 2027.
"It reflects the reality that in order to tackle court delays we need co-ordinated action from across the justice agencies, including police, Crown Law and Corrections."
The new thresholds set out "realistic timeframes" for most cases to progress from first appearance to completion, while still upholding fair trial rights. They were intended to highlight cases that were affected by undue delays, rather than those simply progressing through the full criminal case process.
Judge Taumaunu said a number of factors would affect whether the 90 percent threshold could be achieved by the 2027 deadline, including resource levels in the courts and other justice agencies, changes in the volume of courts' work coming and the impact of other big projects, like court digitisation. He noted not all cases would be disposed of within the timeliness threshold.
"For example, the Whakaari-White Island case was category 1 but there was never an expectation it could be completed within six months. That is why the overall standard is 90 percent, not 100 percent," he said.
"The standard is aspirational and an important next step in our efforts to enhance timely justice."
A protocol document issued by the judge stated if the targets were not met, ongoing court and justice sector conversations would discuss the reasons for delay and steps to reduce them. The work would later be expanded to include the District Court's family, youth and civil jurisdictions.
The document said slow court processes had a human cost: "When people experience delay in cases proceeding through the District Court there is a human toll. For many, their lives will remain on hold until their case is finished."
It comes as RNZ has revealed more people are serving prison time for crimes of which they are later cleared.
Jack* was held on remand for nine months and then released on bail for two years, before he was found not guilty of indecent assault. His life was upended while he waited for the wheels of justice to turn.
"Everything fell to pieces, my children, my partner, our home, everything. It was really, really hard going."
The amount of time people are spending in custody has also increased - currently an average of 79 days, up from 56 days ten years ago (in 2013/14).
*Name changed for privacy