Government told in no UN-certain terms - improve justice outcomes for NZ youth

Date: 10 October 2016

The UN pulled no punches when evaluating the way New Zealand treats its children and young people. Embarrassingly, the report regrets that the Government did not take the opportunity to take action last time it made these same recommendations.

One of the strong recommendations from the UN is one that Cabinet is due to announce a decision on any day now. The UN is clear that we must include 17 year olds in our youth justice system.

"If Cabinet decide not to include 17 year olds in the youth justice system they will not only be ignoring the UN" says JustSpeak Director Katie Bruce. "They will be ignoring their own evidence, all their talk of taking an investment approach and overwhelming support from the social sector. It would be purely a political decision, and one that will be to the detriment of our young people and our communities".

New data from MSD shows the effectiveness of the Family Group Conference process in the youth justice system. Reoffending declines significantly after young people are held to account in a way that looks at the causes of their offending. When some young people do reoffend, their offences are generally less frequent and less serious.

The UN also commented on the two biggest issues in our justice system - mass imprisonment and the over-representation of Māori and Pasifika young people.

"Mass imprisonment is one of the biggest crises facing us in Aotearoa" says Katie Bruce. "We need to do all we can to stem the flow of young people into prison and that means prison should always be a last resort."

Māori and Pasifika young people are grossly over-represented in our justice system. "If the Government does not act to reduce this disparity they are knowingly perpetuating these racial disparities for another generation" says Katie Bruce. "Not only do we need to implement the UN recommendations to improve cultural capability in the Police and investigate allegations of racial bias, we also need to set targets to reduce these disparities."

"Our young people cannot wait for another reprimand from the UN. They need action now for a better future" says Katie Bruce.

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