The number of criminal cases in the District Court as at 31 October 2018 rose by nearly 800 compared to the same date in 2017.

According to a table released by the Justice Minister Andrew Little this month, the number of active cases in the court was 32,420 – compared to 31,642 on 31 October 2017.

Mr Little was replying to a written question by the National Party’s spokesperon on courts, Chris Penk.

Mr Little also revealed that the number of civil cases in the District Court had risen slightly over the same period, from 9,123 to 9,492.

In other similar questions lodged by Mr Penk on the same day, Mr Little responded that:

The number of active Category 1 cases in the District Court had fallen over the one-year period (2,148 in 2017 to 1,832 in 2018);

The number of active coronial cases was 4,324 as at 31 October 2018, a rise of 524 on the previous 12 months;

The average age of all District Court criminal cases disposed of in the 12-month period ending 31 October 2018 was 115, an increase of six days.