Disbandment of Criminal Justice Advisory Board a Retrograde Step

The disbandment of the Criminal Justice Advisory Board will contribute further to the current lack of coherence around criminal justice policy, and its interface with broader social policy, in the view of Kim Workman, Director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment. He was responding to the Minister of Justice's announcement that the Board has been disbanded. .

"The formation of criminal justice policy has always occurred in a silo. The recent Ministerial briefings from the Ministries of Social Development and Justice, both highlighted the lack of coordination and collaboration across agencies as a major issue."

"The Board was starting to get departmental heads to think about criminal justice policy and its interface with broader social policy. In its short existence, under the leadership of former Secretary for Justice, David Oughton, it was starting to make a major contribution to the justice sector, particularly in developing policy which was not simply about punishment and sentencing, but took into account broader social policy issues."

"The Board also had a role in developing greater public consensus on building confidence in the criminal justice system, and facilitating community dialogue about criminal justice issues and solutions."

"The Rethinking project supports the government's concern for victims. However, justifying the disbandment of the Board on the basis that the money will go toward compensating victims is short sighted. We would rather that it focused on reducing the number of victims in society, through addressing the causes of offending. The Board had the capability to contribute to that."

ENDS

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