The Criminal Cases Review Commission Te Kāhui Tatari Ture (Te Kāhui) has received its 500th application in just four and a half years.

Te Kāhui undertakes independent review of criminal convictions and or sentences for individuals who believe they may have suffered a miscarriage of justice in Aotearoa | New Zealand.

Of the 502 applications received to date:

• 91 % are male, 8.8 % are female and 0.2 % are gender diverse or self described;
• 40.03 % are Māori, 39.64 % are Pakeha, 3.98 % are Pacific Peoples and 12.75 % are another ethnicity;
• 16.7 % of our applications are from people aged 39 and under; and
• 54.4 % were incarcerated and 44.6 % were in the community at the time of their application.

Currently the Commission has 229 open cases, with 203 cases in triage or initial assessment and 26 cases where Te Kāhui is undertaking a section 25 (of the CCRC Act) investigation. Te Kāhui has reviewed and completed 273 cases. A full breakdown of our current application statistics can be found here.

"The progress made to date is reflective of the intensive effort by our team" says Parekawhia McLean, Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive.

Between December 2022 and November 2024, Te Kāhui made four referrals to appellate courts. Of these, two have resulted in the applicants' convictions being set aside and the remaining two await hearing.

The first successful referral related to Mr G's convictions as an adult, when he was aged fifteen at the time of the offending, and was heard in November 2023. The High Court allowed the appeal resulting in Mr G's convictions being set aside, and his sentence being quashed. The full text of the judgment and reasons can be found here.

The third referral relating to Mr X was based on serious concerns about the identification evidence used to convict him. When the appeal was called on 1 March 2024 the Crown accepted there had been a miscarriage of justice, and that the appeal should be allowed with no retrial ordered. The Court entered a judgment of acquittal and made orders for suppression of Mr X's name and identifying details.

Further details about all referrals can be found here.

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