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Annual statistics

Statistics are provided for 31 December year-ends.

The Court of Appeal is New Zealand’s principal intermediate appellate court. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. The Court deals with civil and criminal appeals from matters heard in the High Court and appeals from criminal jury trials in the District Court. Matters appealed to the High Court from the District Court and certain tribunals can be taken to the Court of Appeal with leave, if a second appeal is warranted. The Court hears appeals from the Māori Appellate Court, and may also grant leave to hear appeals on questions of law from the Employment Court. The Court of Appeal is the final court for Accident Compensation appeals.

Workload statistics - most recent

Total Workload – for the 12 months ending 31 December 2023

Court workload

The Court delivered 672 judgments in 2023, compared to 648 in 2022.

Total new business

The Court’s workload increased in 2023, with a total of 713 appeals and 355 applications filed. 

Appeals

A total of 618 appeals were disposed of, an increase of seven compared to the previous year.

As at 31 December 2023, there were 602 appeals on hand, an increase of 95 compared to the same time last year.

Applications

Application disposals decreased by one to 316.

As at 31 December 2023, there were 144 applications on hand, an increase of 39 compared to the same time last year.

Examples of the types of applications dealt with by the Court include:

  • leave to appeal, bail;
  • name suppression;
  • fresh evidence (civil); 
  • disclosure (criminal); and
  • jurisdictional issues.

 

Criminal Jurisdiction

Criminal appeals

A total of 449 criminal appeals were filed in 2023, an increase of 37 compared to the previous year.

Criminal appeal disposals decreased by 15 to 388.

As at 31 December 2023, there were 350 criminal appeals on hand, an increase of 61 compared to the previous year.

Criminal applications

The number of new criminal applications filed in the year 2023 increased by 14 to 106 applications.

The number of criminal applications disposed of remained at 92.

As at 31 December 2023, the number of criminal applications on hand increased by 14 to 52 applications.

 

Civil Jurisdiction

Civil appeals

The number of new civil appeals filed in the year 2023 increased by 37 to 264 new appeals. 

The number of civil appeals disposed of increased by 22 to 230.

As at 31 December 2023, there were 252 civil appeals on hand, an increase of 34 compared to the same time last year.

Civil applications

The number of new civil applications filed in the year 2023 increased by 46 to 249 applications. 

The number of civil applications disposed of increased by 1 to 224 compared to the same time last year.

As at 31 December 2023, the number of civil applications on hand increased by 25 to 92 applications. 

 

Definitions

New Business                                                                                                                   

New business includes all appeals filed in the Court of Appeal.                                                                                                          

Disposals                                                                                                                             

The sum of appeals disposed, where disposal was counted at the delivery of final judgment or earlier final outcome. 

Total Active Cases                                                                                                                           

Active appeals are those that are awaiting a substantive hearing or awaiting final judgment.

Past workload statistics

Archived