The Ministry of Justice has released new figures on adults charged and convicted in court, along with children and young people charged in court.

The six-monthly report tallies data up to the end of June 2019.

Adults convicted and sentenced

It shows the numbers of adults charged has continued to fall. There were 205, 533 individual charges against adults during the 2018/2019 period. A 3% drop compared to 2017/2018, but 38% in comparison to 2009/2010.

When it comes to being charged in court, in 2018/2019, there were 72,594 adults charged with at least one offence, which is 4% fewer than the previous year. Over the past 10 years, that’s a 42% drop in the number of adults charged in court. Most convicted adults were male (78%) and almost half were less than 30 years old.

Out of the overall figures for 2018/2019 there were 25,813 Māori adults convicted of at least one offence, which fell 5% on the previous year.

Traffic offences and breaches of community orders were the most common convicted charges. 81% of all adults that were charged in court received a conviction.

Children and young people in court

New figures show 1,497 children and young people had charges finalised in any court in 2018/2019. That includes Youth, District and High Courts and is a 16% reduction on the 2017/2018 figures.

78% of the children and young people with charges finalised were male and 72% were aged between 15 and 16 years old.

Over the past 10 years there has actually been a 65% decrease in the number of children and young people that have been charged in court.