In theory the CAA (as do other transport regulators in NZ) operate under a similar "compliance model", in that minor errors or rule breaches are treated as opportunities for learning and education. Only wilful non-compliance, failure to amend behaviours, or cases with high public interest should go to court or result in certificates being revoked.
It only takes one bad prosecution to make people lose faith in that system though. It seems FAA do a pretty good job with most aspects of their system, and I'm always glad when I see NZCAA following the FAA. CASA seem to think they know better though from what I've seen.