In 2020, New Zealand judges discharged 32,301 people without conviction. These are people who committed an offence, pleaded guilty or were found guilty, but convinced a judge that the consequences of a conviction would outweigh the seriousness of what they did.

That number seemed high at the time. Then COVID hit. Courts closed, cases stacked up, and in 2021 discharges without conviction dropped to 29,805. The system was grinding through backlogs, not handing out second chances.

But watch what happened next. In 2022, the figure jumped to 35,124. Then 44,334 in 2023. Then, last year, it hit 53,004. That's the highest it's been since 2007, when the data starts.

This isn't a blip. It's a 64% increase in four years. (Source: Stats NZ, charges-by-offence-type)

So what changed? The law didn't. Section 106 of the Sentencing Act has been the same since 2002. Judges still weigh the gravity of the offence against the impact a conviction would have on the person standing in front of them: their job, their visa status, their ability to travel, their standing in the community.

What changed is volume. More charges are going through the courts. More people are being caught for low-level offending: cannabis possession, shoplifting, minor assaults, drunk and disorderly behaviour. And judges are increasingly deciding that a permanent criminal record isn't the right response.

This raises an uncomfortable question. If 53,000 people last year were found guilty but deemed suitable for discharge without conviction, what does that say about the offences we're prosecuting in the first place? Are we criminalising behaviour that doesn't warrant lifelong consequences?

There's another angle here. Politicians talk constantly about being tough on crime. About consequences. About accountability. But quietly, in courtrooms across the country, the judiciary is moving in the opposite direction. They're looking at the person, not just the offence. They're asking whether punishment serves any purpose when the collateral damage outweighs the crime.

Fifty-three thousand times last year, a judge decided the answer was no. That's 145 people every single day walking out of court with no criminal record, given a chance to move on.

Whether you think that's mercy or leniency depends on your politics. But the trend is undeniable: New Zealand is convicting fewer people, even as it charges more.