Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson has defended the maligned Manukau District Court, saying it is actually "performing with distinction".
During the weekend it was revealed leaked emails from a senior judge to a lawyer expressed his frustration at the "Mickey Mouse Manukau mayhem" at the court.
Judge Roy Wade was scathing of some of the lawyers working in the court and staff, saying one lawyer would come a "big cropper in the near future" and one day he was "just about to lose the plot with some of the useless staff we seem to have".
Dame Margaret Bazley, in her final report on the Legal Aid Review, said up to 80 percent of lawyers practising in the Manukau District Court could be "gaming the system".
However, Judge Johnson today released Ministry of Justice figures which showed a significant lift in productivity during the past three years.
Summary crime, which included everything except matters taken through to jury trials, increased 27 percent but disposals of cases exceeded that at 39 percent.
Other significant figures were:
* From July to November this year 7428 new crime cases came in but 7603 were concluded by the nine crime judges.
* Depositions plummeted from 303 in June, 2007 to 140 in June, 2009.
* There were 258 new jury trials in the year to June, 2009, but the court disposed of 276 in the same time.
* In the past two years, the median length of time for jury trials was down from 314 days to 244.
* Courtroom usage over the past four months was higher and longer in Manukau than any other court in Auckland and Northland.
Judge Johnson said that, far from being dysfunctional, the Manukau court was performing with distinction.
"It is a court with a very high workload that has done a magnificent job in meeting and sometimes surpassing the demands made of it.
"The contribution of the legal profession to this success cannot be overlooked. Although there are identifiable problems with the legal aid system, the district court judges will work with the Law Society to help improve the system."
