This report presents key trends in the Child and Youth Prosecution Statistics 2011 released by the Ministry of Justice, and published on the Statistics New Zealand website. It covers the calendar years from 2002 to 2011.
The bulk of the analysis in this bulletin focuses on the characteristics of, and the outcomes for, children and young people who face charges in court. We have included content from other youth justice agencies (New Zealand Police and Child, Youth and Family) at the start of this bulletin to show the broader engagement of children and young people within the justice sector. As the report shows, the children and young people who appear in court are only a small proportion of those that enter the justice sector.
In the youth justice system, children are defined as being aged 10 to 13 years, and young people are aged 14 to 16 years.
Key Results
Key findings in this report
- The number of youth entering the court system has decreased, with the most marked decrease happening in the last few years.
- The decline in youth appearing in court is widespread across most ethnicities, ages and offence types.
- Overall, the most serious youth offending has also decreased. The number of young people convicted of the most serious offences fell by over half between 2007 and 2011.
- Around 40 percent of charges against young people are for property damage, theft and burglary type offences.
- Only the most serious offending reaches court. Nearly 80 percent of youth offending is dealt with by intention-to-charge Family Group Conferences, and Police alternative action, including warnings and diversion programmes.