17 March 2011
Community Law Says Criminal Reform Bill Will Not Work

Community Law Centres have strongly criticised the government’s hasty criminal justice reforms, saying that the changes trample on human rights but are unlikely to make real gains in efficiency or effectiveness. Instead, Law Centres call for thoughtful reform that might take longer but which has the potential to cost less in human terms as well as in dollar terms.

Speaking to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee today (Thursday), Community Law Canterbury’s Managing Solicitor Kevin Campbell said that the Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill is flawed. The Coalition criticised the lack of evidence of any efficiency to be gained by impinging on rights like the right to be present for your own trial. The Coalition pointed to the Canterbury Community Justice Panel pilot as an example of the right kind of justice reform. The Community Justice Panel system diverts lower-level charges from the Courts, and aims to address the root causes of offending.

Campbell was presenting a submission from the Coalition of Community Law Centres Aotearoa. The Coalition’s submission suggests that the haste with which the Bill has been drafted means that implementation costs may be high: bad law-making increases the need for amendments and test-cases. The submission emphasised that the Attorney-General has labelled many of the changes as in breach of the Bill of Rights. In the light of the Attorney-General’s finding of breaches of the Bill of Rights, the Chief Justice’s caution that the legislation was too rushed, and the Law Society President’s view that the bill needed to be ditched, Campbell urged the Committee to put aside political differences and work towards good law. “As I lawyer, I would be concerned to be voting for this bill,” he said.

Campbell was speaking to the Committee by telephone from Christchurch, where he is heavily involved in Community Law Canterbury’s response to the earthquakes. Despite the immediate needs in Canterbury, Campbell felt that it was important to speak to the Committee about the risks of hurrying this reform – and the lost opportunity for more meaningful reform.

The Committee is due to report back on 24 May 2011.

The Coalition of Community Law Centres Aotearoa Inc (the Coalition) is an organisation established to promote community legal services, participatory justice and community development, and to help meet the unmet legal needs of communities throughout Aotearoa. The 22 community law centres in the Coalition work collaboratively to promote the interests of the communities they serve. All community law centres provide advice to people facing criminal charges, and to victims of crime. Many centres also provide representation in some criminal cases.

The Coalition’s submission is online at http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/SC/Documents/Evidence/0/3/e/49SCJE_EVI_00DBHOH_BILL10451_1_A173347-Coalition-of-Community-Law.htm.

ENDS

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