Judges ordered publicly-funded cultural reports 'in error'

District and High Court judges ordered special reports on the backgrounds of mainly Maori and Pacifica offenders apparently unaware the law didn't allow them to. Information obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act shows the Justice Ministry stopped paying for cultural reports in June last year after realising they were not publicly funded. The move was seen as a cost cutting measure and criticised by those working in the justice sector - but the reports shouldn't have been funded in the first place.