Of 1,541 appeals from District Court decisions which were decided in the year to 30 June 2018, 432 (28%) were successful.
This is reported in the Annual Report of the District Court of New Zealand. The report says during the period 135,617 matters were disposed of across all jurisdictions - 131,516 criminal cases, 3,491 defended Family Court applications and 610 defended civil cases.
Successful appeals represented 0.3% of the total matters disposed of over the reporting year.
Criminal appeals
The report says this is the number of appeal applications made in relation to the number of disposed criminal cases, which includes jury trial and Youth Court cases. It says the number of cases does not reflect the actual number of decisions made in the criminal jurisdiction during the year that can be appealed.
Of appeals made in the 2017/18 year, 29% were successful and 71% were dismissed or withdrawn.
Criminal appeals from District Court decisions, year to 30 June
Year | Disposed Criminal Cases | Total Appeals | Successful | Dismissed/Withdrawn |
2018 | 131,516 | 1,394 | 404 | 990 |
2017 | 131,153 | 1,432 | 382 | 1,050 |
Family Court appeals
The report says this is the number of appeal applications made in relation to the number of disposed Family Court defended applications, where a hearing was held. The number of cases does not reflect the actual number of Family Court decisions made during the reported year that can be appealed.
Of appeals made in the 2017/18 year, 19% were successful and 81% were dismissed or withdrawn.
Appeals from Family Court defended applications, year to 30 June
Year | Defended applications | Total Appeals | Successful | Dismissed/Withdrawn |
2018 | 3,491 | 78 | 15 | 63 |
2017 | 4,128 | 101 | 15 | 86 |
Civil appeals
The report says this is the number of appeal applications made in relation to the number of disposed civil defended cases. The number of cases does not reflect the actual number of civil decisions made during the reported year that can be appealed.
Of appeals made in the 2017/18 year, 19% were successful and 81% were dismissed or withdrawn.
Appeals from District Court civil defended cases, year to 30 June
Year | Defended | Total Appeals | Successful | Dismissed/Withdrawn |
2018 | 610 | 69 | 13 | 56 |
2017 | 671 | 64 | 17 | 47 |