An inquiry is under way into the number of cases district courts deal with that do not go to a jury trial.
Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson says police withdrew 11.5% of the 193,000 summary cases that district courts dealt with in 2008.
He says that equates to about 20,000 charges, which is the summary workload of Auckland District Court.
Judge Johnson says some of the charges are withdrawn because of plea bargaining, others because the charge was too heavy, and some because there was no evidence to support them.
He says the situation means the justice system is effectively supporting a "phantom court".
The judge says the judiciary wants a gateway within the police system that checks the quality control of the laying of charges.
