District and High Court judges in New Zealand ordered special reports on the backgrounds of mainly Pacifika and Maori offenders apparently unaware the law didn't allow them to.
Information obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act shows the Justice Ministry stopped paying for cultural reports in June last year after realising they were not publicly funded.
The move was seen as a cost cutting measure and criticised by those working in the justice sector - but the reports shouldn't have been funded in the first place.
RNZ's court reporter Anneke Smith has the story.
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