Police have prosecuted fewer than one in ten of the cases referred from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
The inquiry found at least 200,000 people were abused, and even more neglected, by the state and faith-based institutions from 1950 to 1999.
More than 2300 survivors gave evidence to the inquiry with 110 referrals made to police.
Information released to RNZ under the Official Information Act showed, as of November, seven referrals had resulted in convictions and 11 remained open – including two scheduled for trial and one awaiting sentence.
However, 93 were closed without prosecution with 47 (42.7 percent) not meeting the test for prosecution under Solicitor-General’s prosecution guidelines.
Cooper Legal principal partner Sonja Cooper, whose firm had acted for hundreds of abuse survivors and victims, said she was not surprised by the statistic.
“To be perfectly blunt, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” she said.
“I think it’s sad, but it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”
For a prosecution to be taken it had to pass two hurdles – enough evidence to prove the proposed charge beyond reasonable doubt and whether prosecution was in the public interest.
Cooper said she could see historic claims failing both tests in the eyes of prosecutors.
“We know in the past when we’ve assisted clients to make complaints to the police, we know that unless there is a reasonable cohort of victims – so at least three or four who are all making allegations against the same person – the police will generally not proceed,” she said.
“So you already need a solid mass of victims – even if it’s a very serious allegation – typically with the historic claims, the police have not proceeded if there’s only one victim or maybe two and have required at least three or four.”
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