Survey records high level of satisfaction with court services

Courts Minister Georgina te Heuheu today launched results from the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken of court users.

‘Understanding our Court Users: Court User Survey 2010’ is the result of more than two thousand face-to-face interviews with non-professional court users from the eight largest District and combined District/High courts around the country, as well as the Auckland High Court.

“It’s great to see that more than three quarters of the court users surveyed were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall level of service they received,” Mrs te Heuheu said.

The survey asked for court users’ experience of, and satisfaction with, all the frontline services and facilities in order to help the Ministry of Justice identify where improvements can be made.

“The vast majority of interviewees felt safe at court (86%), rated staff as fair (87%), competent (86%), and helpful (85%), and found the information they received helpful and easy to understand.

“The results are credit to the level of service and professionalism demonstrated by our court staff everyday.”

An overall measure of court user satisfaction will now be included as a key performance measure in the Ministry’s external accountability documents.

Mrs te Heuheu said the results also compare favourably with relevant national and international surveys, including court user surveys in England, Wales, and Scotland.

The survey can be found on the Ministry of Justice website, at: http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/u/understanding-our-court-users-court-user-survey-2010/publication