Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wellington
T 04 918 8800 |
F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
30 September 2024
K Thompson
[FYI request #25226 email]
OIA 115221
Tēnā koe K Thompson,
Official Information Act request: Coroners Court case closure times and cases where
a vaccine has been attributed to a death
Thank you for your email of 3 September 2024 to the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry)
requesting clarification of OIA 109160, provided to you by the Ministry on 20 February 2024.
I am responding to your request under the Coroner’s Act 2006 (the Act) and the Official
Information Act 1982 (the OIA). Specifically, you requested:
1. “Can you provide Coroners Court closure times for the years 1990 to the most
recent data you have, under the New Zealand Official Information Act. Can you
please break down the closure times by the months of these years”.
The Ministry is responding to this question under the OIA.
In response to your request, please see Table 1 enclosed. Table 1 provides the average
age, in days, of Coroners Court cases closed in the preceeding 12-month period, for the
months between July 2009 and August 2024.
I can advise that the Case Management System used by the Coroners Court does not hold
case closure data prior to July 2008. The Ministry is therefore refusing this part of your
request in accordance with section 18(e) of the OIA on the grounds that the information does
not exist.
2. “Can you also provide any data recorded by the Coroners Court, or by Statistics
NZ or other agency, whether any deaths have been attributed by the Coroner to
any type of vaccine or medical injection, including the MMR, the flu or the Covid
vaccines/injections”
The Ministry is responding to this question under the Act.
In response to your request, please see Table 2 enclosed. Table 2 provides the number of
closed cases where a vaccination is listed as a cause of death, or contributing to the cause
of death, notified to the Coroner between 1 July 2007 and 10 September 2024.
You can request the coroners Findings into these deaths by emailing
[email address] and quoting
OIA 115521. If you require any clarification of the information contained in this response, please contact
Joe Locke, Media & Social Media Manager, on 021 636 416, or email [email address]
If you are not satisfied with the decision on information released to you under the Official
Information Act 1982, you have the right to complain to the Ombudsman under section 28(3)
of the OIA. You can contact the Office of the Ombudsman by calling 0800 802 60; or
emailing
[email address]
If you are not satisfied with the decision on information released to you under the Coroners
Act 2006 you can make a complaint to the Chief Coroner. The Chief Coroner may be
contacted by email at [email address] or by writing to the Office of
the Chief Coroner at DX SX 11166, Wellington.
I trust this information assists.
Nāku noa, nā
Jacquelyn Shannon
Group Manager, Courts and Tribunals, Regional Services Delivery Encl:
Table 1: The average age, in days, of Coroners Court cases closed in the
preceeding 12-month period, for the months between July 2009 and August 2024.
Table 2: The number of closed cases where a vaccination is listed as a cause of
death, or contributing to the cause of death, notified to the Coroner between 1 July
2007 and 10 September 2024.
Table 1: The average age, in days, of Coroners Court cases closed in the preceeding
12 month period, for the months between July 2009 and August 2024
Notes for Table 1:
• This data was extracted from the Case Management System used by the Coroners
Court on 10 September 2024 and may differ from previously released or published data.
• Cases are included based on the date the case was closed by the coroner, which can
differ from the date the findings were issued.
• This data includes closed cases, which are cases that have been heard by the coroner
and findings have been issued.
• The Case Management System used by the Coroners Court doesn't hold case
information prior to 1 July 2007.
• Case closure data is held from July 2008 onwards, and average age data for cases
closed in the preceeding 12-month period is available from July 2009 onwards.
• 2024 is a partial year covering 1 January 2024 - 31 August 2024.
• Due to the manner in which information has been recorded by, or presented to the
coroner, the statistics provided should not be taken as representing every case.
Table 2: The number of closed cases where a vaccination is listed as a cause of death,
or contributing to the cause of death, notified to the Coroner between 1 July 2007 and
10 September 2024
Notes for Table 2:
• This data was extracted from the Case Management System used by the Coroners
Court on 10 September 2024 and may differ from previously released or published data.
• Cases are included based on the date the case was closed by the coroner, which can
differ from the date the findings were issued.
• This data includes closed cases, which are cases that have been heard by the coroner
and findings have been issued.
• The Case Management System used by the Coroners Court doesn't hold case
information prior to 1 July 2007.
• The Case Management System used by the Coroners Court was searched for cases
where the following keywords were recorded in the medical cause of death and final
cause of death fields: "vaccination", "vaccine", "flu vaccine", "MMR vaccine", "MMR" and
"medical injection".
• Due to the way in which information is received and recorded in the Case Management
System used by the Coroners Court, it is possible that not all cases have been identified.
