2 October 2023
Attention: James
By emai
l: [FYI request #23909 email]
Dear James
Official information request for costs associated with Kim Dotcom prosecution.
Our Ref: OIA353/1
1.
I refer to your official information request dated 21 August 2023. This was
transferred from the Ministry of Justice to Crown Law for answer.
2.
You asked:
“What is the total to date, spent on legal/prosecuting costs on the Kim Dot
Com case?
Please provide the breakdown of legal costs/prosecuting costs spent on the
Kim Dot Com case by year?
Have any future budgeted legal/prosecuting costs if any been allocated for
the Kim Dot Com case? If so, what are they?”
Total legal/prosecution costs in the Kim Dotcom case
3.
Expenditure under this heading primarily comprises external counsel fees, travel
costs and other litigation disbursements.
4.
The extradition proceedings (relating to Mr Dotcom and his three associates)
account for the bulk of the expenditure. This phase ended in 2021. The decision
of the Minister of Justice on Mr Dotcom’s surrender, under s 30 of the
Extradition Act 1999, is currently pending.
5.
The breakdown below includes other related litigation such as ancillary judicial
review proceedings, damages claims and Privacy Act matters.
6.
I have not included the New Zealand prosecution of Messrs Ortmann and van der
Kolk (concluded this year) which does not involve Mr Dotcom.
7.
Any time spent by Crown Law legal staff does not result in a sum charged and is
not reflected as a cost. This work is funded by an Appropriation which covers
extradition and other prosecution related work. As at 2023, 40,495.15 hours has
been spent on matters connected with these proceedings.
Level 3 Justice
Centre, 19 Aitken Street, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 2858 or DX SP20208, Wellington 6140, New Zealand | +64 4 472 1719 | crownlaw.govt.nz
7466221_1.DOC
2
Crown Law Staff - Hours Total
Legal/Prosecution
Costs
2011
448
$464
2012
7,149
$99,170
2013
7,639
$196,728
2014
7,087
$213,100
2015
5,308
$827,168
2016
4,317
$641,130
2017
5,303
$674,031
2018
1,796
$464,585
2019
1,295
$266,302
2020
363
$54,470
2021
591
$155,607
2022
91
$14,719
2023
75
$12,802
GRAND TOTAL
41,461
$3,620,274
Future budgeted legal/prosecuting costs allocated for the Kim Dot Com case
8.
There is no information in this category. The extradition proceeding is at an end
and there is no prosecution involving Mr Dotcom.
Other steps
9.
If you wish to discuss this response to your request, please feel free to contact us
at
[email address].
10.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours faithfully
Crown Law
Fergus Sinclair
Senior Crown Counsel
7466221_1.DOC