We tell ourselves: "Just another thousand police officers. Just one more prison. It'll be fine after that. We promise we'll stop there. They'll be better. We won't need any more."

Of course, the impacts of our overuse have been pretty harmful.

We spend an enormous amount of money, time and resources on criminal justice measures. There are sustained levels of trauma in targeted communities. There are high reoffending rates. Victims don't sense they are believed or supported. New Zealanders often report they worry about safety.

Maori are by far and wide the most affected by the harms of this system - disproportionately likely to be arrested, charged and incarcerated, and as a group the most likely to experience harm as well.

Amid the emotion, some politicians do their best to convince us of one more "getting tough" hit.

But the dominant talk of late has been focused on rethinking our situation.

Over the past two years, government-established bodies such as Te Uepu Hapai i te Ora - The Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group have outlined New Zealand's urgent need for this.

It is strikingly clear the current system that relies on disproportionate levels of criminalisation, enforcement and adversarial approaches is not working for us, and cannot remain in place. There has been a lot of talk about how criminal justice should be transformed, decolonised, defunded or radically reformed.

And a radical approach is all the more necessary as we grapple with the impact Covid-19 and the economic hardships it has created will have on marginalised communities, particularly Maori, who have largely been shut out of the government's crisis response.

Yet, what to do next? It is one thing to call for change, another to build new solutions. Our criminal justice habits are hard to break.

One solution explored in a new report by Just Speak lies in the idea and practice of justice reinvestment.

JR programmes have a simple aim: to redirect spending on criminal justice into social justice initiatives that strengthen communities and reduce social harms, including offending behaviours.

Sounds good, right?

There is no "one size fits all" approach to justice reinvestment but successful projects are community-led, place-based and data-driven. What do these three steps mean in practice? Continue reading

At first, this seemed like the routine lies that press offices tell.

During the recent visit of the new president of Argentina, for example, the Holy See Press Office said that the Holy Father had discussed abortion with the president, who advocates liberalizing the nation's abortion law.

But they hadn't discussed it.

Pope Francis hadn't raised it.

It was clumsy spin, a bit of easily corrected dishonesty. Embarrassing, but business as usual.

But after nearly three years, the "utmost respect" was more difficult to understand.

Across the depth and breadth of the Roman Curia how many people are there who have anything approaching even passing familiarity with Australian criminal justice?

In what was this "utmost respect" rooted?

I would hazard that the only Australian criminal case most curialists have even heard of would be that of Lindy Chamberlain - the "dingo" case.

That was a massive miscarriage of justice which saw an innocent mother falsely imprisoned for three years for the murder of her child.

The Australian justice system finally got around to fully exonerating her in 2012, thirty-two years after the death.

It is a false and dangerous thing for the Holy See to express "utmost respect" for judicial systems in regard to particular cases.

What the Holy See likely means is that the Australian - or Italian, or British, or American - system at least aims at justice, unlike that of China or Saudi Arabia.

But no matter how fine a criminal justice system may be in theory, it can be bent to unjust ends in a particular case.

Italians should know this more than most, given that for decades accusations that the criminal justice has been corrupted for partisan ends have been made at the highest levels.

It's enough to recall that former prime minister Giulio Andreotti was convicted of complicity in murder in 2002 even as the actual alleged killer was acquitted. The Italian supreme court acquitted him in 2003.

Thus to repeatedly express "utmost respect" for any system in relation to a particular case is to create confusion.

This is not just harmless diplomatic blather.

If a particular case treats a particular defendant unjustly, repeated assertions of "utmost respect" make it difficult, if not impossible, for the Church's canonical process to arrive at a different, honest result. And that would be the situation for any defendant who did not have the capacity to appeal his convictions, as Cardinal Pell did, to the High Court.

In the Pell case the professions of "utmost respect" became absurd bordering on the grotesque, given that it would be hard to find a single curial cardinal or bishop who did not think a monstrous injustice was taking place in Melbourne.

Despite what the Holy See said, there was precious little respect for Australian justice across the curia in this case.

Another Australian archbishop, Philip Wilson of Adelaide, was convicted of covering up sexual abuse only to be acquitted on appeal in 2018.

The appellate judge said flatly that Wilson could not be convicted as a scapegoat for the sexual abuse crisis.

Not much respectable there.

And not just Australia.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyons was convicted of covering up sexual abuse while all of his many co-defendants on the same charge in the same case were acquitted.

Barbarin's conviction was quashed on appeal and it was clear that if he wasn't a cardinal he would never have been charged.

He resigned anyway.

"Respectable" criminal justice systems routinely convict the innocent, especially when involving alleged crimes against children.

In Canada, for more than twenty years innocent people were falsely accused and convicted of assaulting and killing children.

Parents were falsely convicted of killing their own children due to the malfeasance of the Ontario coroner's office.

It would be hard to imagine a more profound abuse of state power: innocent people sent to jail, reputations destroyed, families sundered, children traumatized and guilty parties going free.

Is Canadian criminal justice worthy of "utmost respect"? Continue reading

Nauru has abolished a decades-old link to Australia's legal system, removing the island nation's highest court of appeal in a move critics have described as "shocking" and "concerning" for human rights.

On 12 December last year, the Nauruan government quietly informed Australia it wished to unilaterally withdraw from a treaty, signed in 1976, which made the Australian apex court the highest appellate court in the Nauruan justice system.

Nauru made no public announcement of its decision to terminate the treaty, which would take effect after three months.

On Good Friday, Nauru's Solicitor-General Jay Udit allegedly told Australian lawyers that the Nauru government had triggered the 90-day notice period to cancel appeals in December 2017 or January 2018.

The government announced on Monday that no new judicial appeals to Australia's High Court would be permitted under the now-defunct 1976 High Court Appeals Act.

No legislation has been enacted to establish a new local court of appeal.

The first consequence of this decision came on Tuesday when three Nauruans wanting to appeal their sentences were turned away from the Australian High Court registry in Sydney.

Former president Sprent Dabwido said this placed the three in a 'bizarre legal no man's land.'

He said the Australian government was complicit because the defence lawyers were not told the decision to end access had been made in December last year and that the registry staff 'had been instructed weeks ago not to accept any more Nauru appeals'.

Dabwido also said the Australian High Commission on Nauru had refused to speak on the issue, while Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had publicly backed the move by the Nauru government.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• aljazeera.com
• radionz.co.nz
• theguardian.com
• Image: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

He asked if New Zealand should rather have a Maori care and protection system with some clip-ons for Pakeha.

Becroft is New Zealand's children's commissioner and a former principal Youth Court judge.

He was addressing at this year's Te Hunga Roia Maori o Aotearoa (New Zealand Maori Law Society) annual conference last Friday.

However, he is optimistic about the present generation, telling the law students and young lawyers, "you have been accorded a second chance that we blew." The new Oranga Tamariki Act, implemented in July, has an even stronger focus on whanau, hapu and iwi.

Another speaker, Judge Soana Moala, who was appointed to the bench a year ago, said even at the Manukau District Court - where many cases involved Maori and Pasifika - "section 27" reports were rare.

Section 27 of the Sentencing Act allows offenders to request the court to hear submissions on the personal, family, whanau, community, and cultural background of the offender.

"A lot of these older white male judges only see young brown faces in court, so they only see ones that are facing really serious charges," she said.

[They don't get] to see what I see all the time, which is young, talented, clever, amazing young brown faces."

Source

• Teuila Fuatai. Newsroom
• Teuila Fata. Newsroom
• Image: Te Ara

Walsh said a legal Pandora's box had been opened after a judge forced St Bede's College to reinstate two teen rowers dropped from its team ahead of the Maadi Cup in March.

"We are aware of principals who contact SPANZ to say they are threatened with legal action and now they've got the St Bedes' case that appears to support [a parent's] right to seek injunctions on matters related to co-curricular activities where that hasn't happened before."

Walsh said courts had previously allowed principals and trustees to make decisions in schools because they accepted boards were elected representatives of the community.

The Herald on Sunday reported that parents are threatening principals with legal injunctions if their children are overlooked for sports teams and school musicals.

The increased threats have forced the Government, principals and Crown Law to work together to draw up legal advice for schools faced by parents hiring lawyers.

Ministry of Education head of sector enablement and support Katrina Casey said Crown Law was drafting legal submissions for school boards to use when challenged - particularly as disputes could escalate so quickly.

An Auckland lawyer specialising in education law John Hannan said the Bill of Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were key factors in the case when Hastings student, Lucan Battison won the right to keep his long hair.

But a move away from the courts' traditional reluctance to intervene in school matters, was also important, he said.

"Generally there's been a willingness at the courts to look at what decisions schools are making, and to not be prepared to have the deference to the authority of the school management and principal that they may once have had," Mr Hannan said.

He said there was a more litigious mood amongst parents and schools simply did not have the resources to deal with it.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: google.co.nz

He says he forgives the police who charged him with the 1992 rape and murder of Susan Burdett.

Pora was convicted twice for this offence and spent 21 years in jail.

In March the Privy Council quashed his convictions and recommended he not be put on trial again.

After his baptism he taught himself to read using a pocket bible. "I'm a different person now. Humble. In the past I'd have been, yeah, aggressive."

He says he has lost his anger and his attitude. "I don't have anything towards anyone anymore."

Pora said for the first two years he marked time, keeping note of each passing day. "And you just get sick of it. It was slowing down everything."

Years passed between visitors.

"As the years went on I just started to realise no one cared, so I might as well live the lifestyle of being in prison, the art and craft of being in there."

Five years ago Pora's case was taken up by a former detective Tim McKinnel.

His work led to Pora's convictions being quashed.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz

Bishop Justin Duckworth emerged from the prayer vigil for prisoners and associated victims yesterday and, after delivering a sermon, headed straight to a Ghuznee St Malaysian restaurant to break his fast and renew his faith in curry. Continue reading

Judge David Saunders remanded McGrath, 65, on continued bail.

Judge Saunders was critical of the media for pursuing McGrath down the street after his last court appearance two weeks ago and said he had given permission for in-court filming at this appearance so that the matter could be dealt with in a dignified way.

He was concerned Allan said the scene outside the courthouse had been even worse on this occasion.

"It is not proper for this man or any others to be chased along the street with cameras and microphones being thrust in their face," Judge Saunders said.

"I would hope these comments have been taken on board."

Continue reading in The Press

"I just came to support a broken family going through hell. That's what my job is. To show the compassion and love of Christ to someone who desperately needs it," Ngapera says.

Whether Kahui was innocent or guilty didn't matter to Tom and Margaret; it was never even discussed.

"I got involved because Chris' dad came to me and asked for help," says Ngapera.

"His family, who he loved, were being hurt and destroyed publicly. My heart went out to this dad who was broken and asking how his family got into this position."

The Kahuis had asked for help from other agencies. But every person and organisation turned them away when they found out who they were.

Six years on from the deaths of his two young sons, Chris Kahui has become a family man - living with a partner and young children in a religious family.

He is now living with pastor's daughter Marcia Ngapera, with whom he has a daughter, now aged 3. However, although he lives with the girl, he is never allowed to be alone with her.

The national leader of the Baptist Church in New Zealand, Craig Vernal, in an interview on Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint, said that like everyone else they hoped some one would be held to account for the Kahui twins' death. He said that if Chris Kahui had an issue of conscience and needed to turn around and make a confession they would support him.

Vernal said it was not the Church's job to counsel Chris Kahui - the Church is not a law court. He said the church will continue to support the whole Kahui family, and no member of the family would be excluded from that support.

Source:

• Stuff.co.nz
• Stuff.co.nz
• Auckland Now
• Radio New Zealand CheckPoint
• Image: Auckland Now

The Bishops' statement says the decision to suspend the chief justice appears to them, and to many fair-minded people, to go against the independence of the judiciary.

"The court should be allowed to complete its business and establish the freedom of the truth," the Bishops' stament said.

"Under this principle of the separation of powers the three arms of government are expected to respect each others' independence and to co-exist in their duties and responsibilities for the common good of the people."

The statement says Papua New Guinea is already facing problems of corruption, poverty, unemployment, law and order, and many more and it is not a time for political instability and infighting.

"We appeal to all involved in this dispute to place the peace and good of the nation above self-interest."

The Papua New Guinea government has now lifted the suspension of the Chief Justice saying the move was in the national interest to prevent a constitutional crisis.

Source

• The National
• The West Australian
• Image: Australia Network News

In the Harkness Henry Lecture, delivered at Waikato University last month, Dame Sian made apparent references to the Government's criminal justice reforms.

She said control of court processes through new rules was seen by politicians as an opportunity to reduce prison populations and move cases through the court process faster through settlements and guilty pleas and so reduce costs and promote efficiency. "But if we value the independence of the courts and access to them as constitutional goods, it's hard not to be uneasy that the boundaries between executive and judicial responsibility are often not directly confronted," she said.

"It is not always easy to appreciate that proposals which seem quite innocent or efficient or pragmatic may trample on basic principle," she said.

This is not the first time the Chief Justice has spoken out. Earlier this year she floated the idea of releasing prisoners early to relieve overcrowding, and suggested punitive sentencing was often not the best option for reform.

At that time Justice Minister, Simon Power, criticised her for speaking publicly on policy matters. "It is the judiciary's job to apply the law as set by Parliament," he said. "This Government was elected on this sentencing policy. Judges are appointed to apply it."

Co-leader of the Maori Party, Dr Pita Sharples, has welcomed the fresh thinking articulated by the Chief Justice of New Zealand, in her speech.

"I would recommend her speech to all New Zealanders, as a thoughtful account of the 'fundamentals' required in a constitutional conversation," he said.

Commentator Andrea Vance says the aim of the reforms is "to free up thousands of court sitting hours and save about $25 million over five years."

The reforms had an almost 10-year journey, beginning with a Law Commission report in 2001, a further two reports, 16 discussion papers, the drafting of a bill, and more consultation with the judiciary and lawyers.

Source:

• TVNZ
• Stuff.co.nz
• Voxy.co.nz
• Image Liberation

Opening a Families Commission's 50 Key Thinkers forum in May, Mr English referred to prisons as a moral and fiscal failure. In so doing he burst the hot-air cloud of rhetoric and emotion that so often envelops discussions of crime and punishment in this country - and which runs contrary to what much evidence and research reveals about it.

Read Otago Daily Times editorial

Volunteers from St Elizabeth's Anglican Church in Clendon have been visiting inmates in the 464-bed women's prison since it opened in 2006 because it is in their parish.

But vicar Mark Beale, who founded the church 23 years ago, does not know how it will cope with men from the neighbouring 1060-bed men's jail which has been given draft approval to open in April 2015.

"We'll have to cope because they are going ahead and building it, but it's a very daunting challenge," he said.

"A prison of 1000 would need 800 volunteers, so where are those 800 volunteers? A lot of the stuff in prisons is done by volunteers, and it should be because that creates the link to the outside community."

Source

• NZ Herald
• Image: Howick and Pakuranga Times

Right to Life sued the Abortion Supervisory Committee for allegedly failing to review whether certifying consultants were lawfully granting women abortions. Right to Life said many abortions were wrongfully allowed on the grounds that keeping the baby would be a "threat to the women's mental health".

In a High Court decision in 2008, Justice Forrest Miller said: "There is reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions authorised by certifying consultants." He was presiding over a case in which Right to Life New Zealand (RTL) sued the committee for alleged failure to perform its functions under the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act. Justice Miller rejected Right to Life's arguments that an unborn child had any legal right to life under abortion law, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, common law or international law.

Source

• www.stuff.co.nz
• www.NZherald
• Image: National Catholic Register

Prison Fellowship general manager Robin Gunston said the Fellowship had welcomed the evaluation and agreed with suggested changes. These included improving communication with Corrections and making sure more prisoners finished the 18-month programme. But Corrections' demand to include a rehabilitation element was completely at odds with the programme's purpose. Drug and violence rehabilitation programmes were already offered elsewhere in prison, and the faith-based unit aimed to prepare prisoners for reintegration at the end of their sentence.

The Department says it clearly signalled last November that an amended programme would have to be submitted by May, but Gunston says initially the Fellowship understood it had to introduce the rehabilitation component by the end of May and, if it was not up to Corrections' standards, a month's notice would be given of the unit's closure. He said negotiations with Corrections on Friday had clarified what needed to be done.

Corrections Minster Judith Collins said the faith-based unit did not provide any valuable services that Corrections did not. She called the evaluation "disappointing" and said the programme was clearly not achieving its objective, although faith could have a positive impact in reducing reoffending.

Source

• TVNZ
• Image: Andrew Gorrie DomPost