Supplementary estimates of appropriations

Vote Courts - Supplementary Estimates 2015/16

Formats and related files

APPROPRIATION MINISTER(S): Minister for Courts (M19)

APPROPRIATION ADMINISTRATOR: Ministry of Justice

RESPONSIBLE MINISTER FOR MINISTRY OF JUSTICE: Minister of Justice

Details of Appropriations and Capital Injections#

Annual and Permanent Appropriations#

  2015/16
Titles and Scopes of Appropriations by Appropriation Type Estimates
Budget
$000
Supplementary
Estimates
Budget
$000
Total
Budget
$000

Non-Departmental Other Expenses

     

Abortion Supervisory Committee - Certifying Consultants Fees (M19)

Payments to certifying consultants for providing opinions under Section 33 of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977.
5,063 - 5,063

Assistance to Victims of Crime (M19)

Funding for the Criminal Justice Assistance Reimbursement Scheme.
40 - 40

Coroners Salaries and Allowances PLA (M19)

This appropriation is limited to the costs related to the terms and conditions of remuneration for Coroners pursuant to Section 110 of the Coroners Act 2006.
5,473 637 6,110

Court and Coroner Related Costs (M19)

This appropriation is limited to funding professional and administrative services provided to or directed by courts and coroners, including costs that are required by legislation and costs incurred by Visiting Justices.
76,646 (60) 76,586

Impairment of Debt Established to Recognise Contributions towards Family Court Professional Services (M19)

This appropriation is limited to the impairment of debt owing as a contribution towards Family Court Professional Services costs in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
1,292 - 1,292

Impairment of Fines Receivable (M19)

This appropriation is limited to allowing for the impairment of fines, court costs and enforcement fees in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
40,000 (31,183) 8,817

Judges' Salaries and Allowances PLA (M19)

Costs related to the terms and conditions of remuneration for Judges and acting warranted Judges in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, District Court, Employment Court and Maori Land Court incurred pursuant to s.9A Judicature Act 1908, s.6 District Courts Act 1948 and s.13 Te Ture Whenua Maori Land Act 1993.
123,089 7,539 130,628

Judicial Review Costs (M19)

Cost of legal services (including settlement of claims) in cases involving the exercise of judicial functions or the execution of judicial process or costs of counsel to assist the court, including payments ordered to be made from the Maori Land Court Special Aid Fund.
1,546 (65) 1,481

Justices of the Peace Association (M19)

This appropriation is limited to the cost of administrative services from the Royal Federation of Justices including training and rostering Justices of the Peace for court hearings, and training for Visiting Justices.
350 60 410

Tribunal Related Fees and Expenses (M19)

This appropriation is limited to funding remuneration, allowances, or fees for the Chairs, Members, Adjudicators and Assessors of Specialist Tribunals, and expenses incurred by those Chairs, Members, Adjudicators and Assessors in relation to Tribunal work.
5,095 (120) 4,975

Total Non-Departmental Other Expenses

258,594 (23,192) 235,402

Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure

     

Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services, including the Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services MCA (M19)

The overarching purpose of this appropriation is to provide courts, tribunals and other authorities services, including the collection and enforcement of fines and civil debts services.
460,008 127 460,135
Departmental Output Expenses
     
Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services
This category is limited to the purchase of collection and enforcement of fines and civil debts services.
66,450 (429) 66,021
District Court Services
This category is limited to funding the provision of services in regard to the work of the District Courts, including the Youth Court and Family Court.
230,016 (652) 229,364
Higher Court Services
This category is limited to funding the provision of services in regard to the work of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court.
73,038 672 73,710
Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services
This category is limited to the provision of services in regard to the work of New Zealand's specialist courts, tribunals and authorities.
90,504 536 91,040

Total Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure

460,008 127 460,135

Total Annual and Permanent Appropriations

718,602 (23,065) 695,537

Supporting Information#

Part 1 - Vote as a Whole#

1.2 - Trends in the Vote

Summary of Financial Activity

  2015/16
    Supplementary Estimates  
  Estimates
$000
Departmental
Transactions
$000
Non-Departmental
Transactions
$000
Total
Transactions
$000
Total
$000

Appropriations

         
Output Expenses - - - - -
Benefits or Related Expenses - N/A - - -
Borrowing Expenses - - - - -
Other Expenses 258,594 - (23,192) (23,192) 235,402
Capital Expenditure - - - - -
Intelligence and Security Department Expenses and Capital Expenditure - - N/A - -
Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure (MCA)          
Output Expenses 460,008 127 - 127 460,135
Other Expenses - - - - -
Capital Expenditure - N/A - - -

Total Appropriations

718,602 127 (23,192) (23,065) 695,537

Crown Revenue and Capital Receipts

         
Tax Revenue - N/A - - -
Non-Tax Revenue 185,413 N/A (33,132) (33,132) 152,281
Capital Receipts - N/A - - -

Total Crown Revenue and Capital Receipts

185,413 N/A (33,132) (33,132) 152,281

Part 3 - Details of Non-Departmental Appropriations#

3.4 - Non-Departmental Other Expenses

Coroners Salaries and Allowances PLA (M19)

Scope of Appropriation

This appropriation is limited to the costs related to the terms and conditions of remuneration for Coroners pursuant to Section 110 of the Coroners Act 2006.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The appropriation has increased by $637,000 to $6.110 million for 2015/16, due to:

  • an increase of $300,000 in accordance with the Coroners (Salaries and Superannuation) Determination 2015, and
  • an increase of $337,000 to account for an adjustment for long service leave liability accrued by Coroners.

Court and Coroner Related Costs (M19)

Scope of Appropriation

This appropriation is limited to funding professional and administrative services provided to or directed by courts and coroners, including costs that are required by legislation and costs incurred by Visiting Justices.

How Performance will be Assessed and End of Year Reporting Requirements

  2015/16
Performance Measures Estimates
Standard
Supplementary
Estimates
Standard
Total
Standard

Percentage of non-violence programme participants who reported they were committed to violence free behaviour

50% Expired measure Expired measure

Percentage of safety programme participants reporting their safety has improved

50% Expired measure Expired measure

Note - Measures removed because the infrastructure and resources required to report are unavailable.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The appropriation has decreased by $60,000 to $76.586 million for 2015/16, due to a transfer to the non-departmental other expenses for Justices of the Peace (JP) Association to fund the increase in fee paid to the Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices' Associations Incorporated. The increase under the Contract for Services agreement is due to the additional roles the Royal Federation has assumed over the years. This includes training, educational resources and court panel management.

Impairment of Fines Receivable (M19)

Scope of Appropriation

This appropriation is limited to allowing for the impairment of fines, court costs and enforcement fees in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The appropriation has decreased by $31.183 million to $8.817 million for 2015/16, due to an accounting standard change to recognise fines revenue at fair value. The initial write-down and interest unwind were previously included in this appropriation. The new standard requires the initial fair value write-down be netted off against fines revenue received and interest unwind to be classified as other income received.

Judges' Salaries and Allowances PLA (M19)

Scope of Appropriation

Costs related to the terms and conditions of remuneration for Judges and acting warranted Judges in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, District Court, Employment Court and Maori Land Court incurred pursuant to s.9A Judicature Act 1908, s.6 District Courts Act 1948 and s.13 Te Ture Whenua Maori Land Act 1993.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The appropriation has increased by $7.539 million to $130.628 million for 2015/16, due to:

  • an increase of $6.114 million in accordance with the Judicial Salaries and Allowances Determination (No.2) 2015, and
  • an increase of $1.425 million to account for an adjustment for the sabbatical leave liability accrued by Judges.

Judicial Review Costs (M19)

Scope of Appropriation

Cost of legal services (including settlement of claims) in cases involving the exercise of judicial functions or the execution of judicial process or costs of counsel to assist the court, including payments ordered to be made from the Maori Land Court Special Aid Fund.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The appropriation has decreased by $65,000 to $1.481 million for 2015/16, owing to a transfer to the multi-category expenses and capital expenditure for Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services, including the Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services: Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services, to fund specialist application hearings set down under the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.

Justices of the Peace Association (M19)

Scope of Appropriation

This appropriation is limited to the cost of administrative services from the Royal Federation of Justices including training and rostering Justices of the Peace for court hearings, and training for Visiting Justices.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The appropriation has increased by $60,000 to $410,000 for 2015/16, due to a transfer from the non-departmental other expenses for Court and Coroner Related Costs to fund the increase in fee paid to the Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices' Associations Incorporated. The increase under the Contract for Services agreement is due to the additional roles the Royal Federation has assumed over the years. This includes training, educational resources and court panel management.

Tribunal Related Fees and Expenses (M19)

Scope of Appropriation

This appropriation is limited to funding remuneration, allowances, or fees for the Chairs, Members, Adjudicators and Assessors of Specialist Tribunals, and expenses incurred by those Chairs, Members, Adjudicators and Assessors in relation to Tribunal work.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The appropriation has decreased by $120,000 to $4.975 million for 2015/16, owing to a transfer to multi-category expenses and capital expenditure for Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services, including the Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services: Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services, to fund work by Weathertight Homes adjudicators assisting the Legal Complaints Review Officer.

Part 4 - Details of Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure#

Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure

Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services, including the Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services (M19)

Overarching Purpose Statement

The overarching purpose of this appropriation is to provide courts, tribunals and other authorities services, including the collection and enforcement of fines and civil debts services.

Scope of Appropriation

Departmental Output Expenses
Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services
This category is limited to the purchase of collection and enforcement of fines and civil debts services.
District Court Services
This category is limited to funding the provision of services in regard to the work of the District Courts, including the Youth Court and Family Court.
Higher Court Services
This category is limited to funding the provision of services in regard to the work of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court.
Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services
This category is limited to the provision of services in regard to the work of New Zealand's specialist courts, tribunals and authorities.

Expenses, Revenue and Capital Expenditure

  2015/16
  Estimates
$000
Supplementary Estimates
$000
Total
$000

Total Appropriation

460,008 127 460,135

Departmental Output Expenses

     
Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services 66,450 (429) 66,021
District Court Services 230,016 (652) 229,364
Higher Court Services 73,038 672 73,710
Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services 90,504 536 91,040

Funding for Departmental Output Expenses

     

Revenue from the Crown

409,472 (603) 408,869
Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services 61,941 (472) 61,469
District Court Services 203,788 (795) 202,993
Higher Court Services 62,123 440 62,563
Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services 81,620 224 81,844

Revenue from Others

50,484 730 51,214
Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services 4,509 43 4,552
District Court Services 26,228 143 26,371
Higher Court Services 10,915 232 11,147
Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services 8,832 312 9,144

How Performance will be Assessed for this Appropriation

  2015/16
Assessment of Performance Estimates
Standard
Supplementary Estimates
Standard
Total
Standard

Satisfaction of court users with court services and facilities (see Note 1)

80% Expired measure Expired measure

Note 1 - Measure withdrawn because the Court User survey, which is used for this performance measure, has been delayed until 2016/17.

What is Intended to be Achieved with each Category and How Performance will be Assessed

  2015/16
Assessment of Performance Estimates
Standard
Supplementary Estimates
Standard
Total
Standard

Departmental Output Expenses

     

Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services

     

Amount collected (see Note 1)

$217.500 million ($13.5 million) $204 million

Amount collected through the Offender Levy (see Note 1)

$4.0 million ($0.7 million) $3.3 million

District Court Services

     
Victim services
     

Number of victims supported by the National Sexual Violence Survivor Advocate Service (see Note 2)

40 Expired measure Expired measure

Percentage of victims/survivors reporting improved outcomes as a result of National Sexual Violence Survivor Advocate Service (see Note 2)

90% Expired measure Expired measure

Number of victims supported by Court Services for Victims Sexual Violence Victim Advisors (see Note 2)

1,300-1,500 Expired measure Expired measure

Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services

     

Percentage of all Maori Land Court applications disposed within 12 months (see Note 3)

100% (20%) 80%

Note 1 - The target has been revised because, due to reprioritisation within the Ministry, our Collections unit has fewer resources available than originally forecasted.

Note 2 - Measure withdrawn because these services are funded under Vote Justice. The measures have been added to the Vote Justice, Victims' Services (M42) appropriation.

Note 3 - The basis upon which this measure is calculated was adjusted in February 2015 to measure the proportion of applications that have been disposed within 12 months of receipt. The data that was previously collected was based on the 12 monthly clearance rate (disposals divided by new applications). The 2015/16 standard has been changed to 80% to reflect the new measurement methodology.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

Collection and Enforcement of Fines and Civil Debts Services

The category has decreased by $429,000 to $66.021 million for 2015/16, due to:

  • a decrease of $500,000 owing to a transfer to other appropriations administered by the Ministry of Justice to fund priorities, address cost pressures, and to adjust the allocation of overheads in the 2015/16 financial year, and
  • a decrease of $136,000 for funds returned to the Crown as a contribution to the share of costs for Budget 2015 whole-of-government initiatives.

Offset by:

  • an increase of $164,000 for additional capital charge on the revaluation of land and buildings as at 30 June 2015, and
  • an increase of $43,000 funded from revenue received for employees seconded to other government agencies.
District Court Services

The category has decreased by $652,000 to $229.364 million for 2015/16, due to:

  • a decrease of $1.550 million owing to a transfer to 2016/17 to fund the second phase of the Stronger Response to Domestic Violence work programme, and
  • a decrease of $479,000 for funds returned to the Crown as a contribution to the share of costs for Budget 2015 whole-of-government initiatives.

Offset by:

  • an increase of $1.129 million for additional capital charge on the revaluation of land and buildings as at 30 June 2015
  • an increase of $143,000 funded from revenue received for employees seconded to other government agencies, and
  • an increase of $105,000 to fund the on-going programme for Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment pilot.
Higher Court Services

The category has increased by $672,000 to $73.710 million for 2015/16, due to:

  • an increase of $596,000 for additional capital charge on the revaluation of land and buildings as at 30 June 2015, and
  • an increase of $232,000 funded from revenue received for employees seconded to other government agencies.

Offset by:

  • a decrease of $156,000 for funds returned to the Crown as a contribution to the share of costs for Budget 2015 whole-of-government initiatives.
Specialist Courts, Tribunals and Other Authorities Services

The category has increased by $536,000 to $91.040 million for 2015/16, due to:

  • an increase of $312,000 funded from revenue received for employees seconded to other government agencies
  • an increase of $232,000 for additional capital charge on the revaluation of land and buildings as at 30 June 2015
  • an increase of $120,000 owing to a transfer from the non-departmental other expenses appropriation for Tribunal Related Fees and Expenses to fund work by Weathertight Homes adjudicators assisting the Legal Complaints Review Officer, and
  • an increase of $65,000 owing to a transfer from the non-departmental other expenses appropriation for Judicial Review Costs to fund specialist application hearings set down under the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.

Offset by:

  • a decrease of $193,000 for funds returned to the Crown as a contribution to the share of costs for Budget 2015 whole-of-government initiatives.