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Simon Power interviewed by Guyon Espiner
GUYON Thank you Simon Power for coming in and
joining us this morning. You've had six months in the portfolio
now, you've made some initial changes around public safety, you've
looked more closely at the drivers or the causes of crime, we
understand now that you are looking at some significant changes in
the justice system and the court system, exactly what is under
investigation there.
SIMON POWER - Minister of Justice
As you say Guyon we've worked our way initially through the public
safety elements with our legislative programme, we moved quickly
into phase two to try and talk creative discussion about what was
driving crime in New Zealand. Phase three of these packages is to
sit back and give some consideration to whether our criminal
justice system is working properly or not. This is a big
undertaking and work that's been undertaken by the Law Commission
and the Ministry of Justice for some time. Essentially what I'm
interested in is having a broad discussion about three things
initially. The first is the way our jury system works. Presently
under the bill of rights if you're charged with an offence that
carries a term of imprisonment of three months or more you can
elect to go to a jury trial, I'm very keen to see that threshold
raised.
GUYON To what?
SIMON Oh well I think three years would be
appropriate. You would see a savings on jury trials about a
thousand a year along with a couple of other smaller changes we
could make in that area.
GUYON So just clarify that, a thousand fewer
trials that actually go to a jury, these would be judge only
trials?
SIMON They would, or in the event of course that
many counsel are using the ability to elect to go to a jury trial
for minor offences as a mechanism to slowing the process up, many
of those cases could be dealt with very quickly and very
appropriately at the lower level.
GUYON So unless you are charged with an offence
which carries a punishment of more than three years, you would not
have the option of seeing a trial by jury by your peers?
SIMON Correct, the situation in other
jurisdictions like Australia, the UK where the common law provides
in this area, Canada for example has a threshold of five years, we
think that it's time to have a fundamental look at the way our
criminal justice system operates.
GUYON But isn't it a fundamental right of anyone
to be tried by a jury, by their peers.
SIMON Well it's a fundamental right of anybody to
have a fair hearing, whether or not a jury trial is the most
appropriate way of dealing with those particular cases is a really
problematic issue for our justice system. A good example of that is
17 hundred people end up in remand on any one year waiting for a
jury trial to come along or to proceed, it would seem to me that's
not a good use of Crown's resources, which begs the question as to
why all the delays occur in that system, which leads to a couple of
the other reforms we're interested in as well.
GUYON I'll come to that in a second, but is part
of the factor here that you're struggling to get jurors to actually
sit on those trials?
SIMON No that wasn't part of the thinking, what
was driving the issue was the delays that we've been seeing in our
justice system, in the District Court for example, on average it
takes about 12 months before a trial kicks off, in the High Court
it's about sixteen and a half months over the 2008 year. We have to
address this, this is not without controversy I accept that, but
the fact is our criminal justice system has not been delivering
justice served seen to be done in a timely and helpful fashion.
Victims of crime find this process incredibly difficult.
GUYON So would it necessarily shorten the time
that that trial takes?
SIMON I believe so.
GUYON By?
SIMON Well you're talking as I say about a
thousand fewer jury trials a year, that has gotta have an impact on
the way the criminal justice system deals with these issues. Of
course if you're charged with a more serious offence that carries a
term of over say for example three years imprisonment, electing for
a jury trial is an option. The question is, is it the best use of
the court system to be using jury trials for what are essentially
minor offences and remember the election to a jury trial is often
used as a tactic to delay the process. We've just got to be in a
position to ask ourselves the hard questions about this
system.
GUYON What are the other two factors, you
mentioned three main areas that you are actually looking at, is
that the most significant one in the jury area?
SIMON Well I'll leave that up to you to decide,
but the other two areas that I'm looking particularly closely at is
this ability where somebody doesn't appear at a hearing the only
sanction available to the courts in general at the moment is to
schedule another hearing. There are some provisions under the
Summary Offences Act that allow convictions to be entered for non
appearance at trials. I think we need that souped up. I think we
need to have a situation where the presumption shifts - if you
don't show up, unless of course the circumstances would be
manifestly unjust for good reason - if you're not showing up to a
hearing to have your time in court, the court should be able to
enter that conviction. Now that's different to sentencing where the
accused would have to be present.
GUYON You would be convicted without hearing under
that circumstance?
SIMON No, if your plea is entered and you don't
turn up, the court should be able to go ahead, and under Section 61
of the Summary Proceedings Act the court is able to do that at the
moment in exceptional circumstances. I'm very interested in whether
or not the presumption should be if you don't show and you've
entered your plea, the conviction can be entered.
GUYON How significant a problem is this, I mean
are there large amounts of cases where people simply don't show
up?
SIMON Yes.
GUYON And so this again is all part of reducing
the congestion in the justice system through the courts?
SIMON Well you can continue to have a debate as a
country about needing more judges, building more courts, or you can
have a fundamental look at the way that our justice system is
running. I think with the way the criminal justice system has been
operating over the last 60, 100 years, it's time for that
fundamental discussion to occur, this is not uncommon in other
jurisdictions and I'm of the view that last minute adjournments
when people don't show, and the effects on the criminal justice
system and the victims of those offences, need to be dealt
with.
GUYON How much of the congestion and the delays
that we see is down to lawyer behaviour, and are you going to do
anything about that?
SIMON Yes we are, which leads me neatly into the
third issue which is that I think it's time that the courts were
able to hold lawyers, both prosecution and defence to account, for
not moving through hearings in a timely and appropriate way. I just
think we're at the point now where the gaming of the system around
the criminal justice processes has to be front footed.
GUYON Is that what court lawyers are doing?
SIMON Oh look I believe what we're seeing is the
system being badly incentivised particularly around legal aid, to
encourage multiple appearances on issues that should be dealt with
in a short and timely way at first appearance.
GUYON So lawyers are clipping the ticket, making
extra money by creating these delays?
SIMON Well as you know I've asked Dame Margaret
Bazley to do an extensive look and review of the legal aid system,
and I'm going to be very interested in whether or not that's the
finding of her review. But Guyon this gaming of the criminal
justice system has got to stop.
GUYON And how do you do that, how do you punish
them for doing that?
SIMON Well the courts presently have available to
them a mechanism to be able to fine a lawyer for gross negligence
in the sense of bringing that case. My view is that should be more
readily available to the courts, and if you're a legal aid lawyer,
you should have your eligibility to do legal aid cases tested if
you're not proceeding in a timely way. To simply not be ready, to
not be available, and to not show up, are not good reasons. Look
when I was admitted to the bar, many years ago in 1994, in my short
time as a lawyer I was always told that a lawyer's first duty, his
first obligation is to the court, and we have not seen that in the
way that our criminal justice system has operated, it's time for
some change.
GUYON Alright obviously you've got some major
changes coming up in the coming months. I'd like to talk about
something that's been more topical over the last few days, and that
is gun control in the wake of the Napier siege. What are you doing
if anything, to tighten gun control laws in New Zealand?
SIMON I spoke to the Police Minister this morning
about where we're up to with this issue, she's asked the Police to
produce for her, a series of options around gun laws. As you know
the Commissioner himself is very concerned about this, but isn't a
fan of arming the Police, but gun control itself and amnesties
around the collection of firearms is on the agenda, as is this very
vexed issue of the trading of firearms over the internet, something
which is extremely complicated.
GUYON Should you be able to buy a gun over the
internet?
SIMON Well that's a matter for the Police to have
a view on rather than me, but I've gotta say that regulating in
cyber space is difficult enough, I mean I've found that with
Section 92 over the Copyright Act, let alone with firearms.
GUYON They tell me they do it in Australia and
also Ebay, the American based website refuses to sell guns. Would
you - for example we've this week looked at guns on Trade Me. Are
you disappointed in Trade Me for selling guns on the
internet?
SIMON I think it's an issue that needs serious
consideration.
GUYON It sounds like you're against that, you
don't think that that should actually be able to happen?
SIMON Well the Police will give us the advice, but
I'm personally of the view it needs serious consideration.
GUYON What about the registration of firearms
because this is a massive problem. Justice Thorp in 1997
recommended that as part of a wide review, nothing has happened.
Why don't you register the firearms, this is the sort of situation
that leads a guy like Molenaar to have 18 guns in his home.
SIMON Yeah it's a really interesting and difficult
question.
GUYON What's the argument against it though
Minister?
SIMON Well when we had the Arms Amendment Bill in
99 to 2002 a Select Committee considered this very point about six
and a half to 7000 submissions from memory from all over New
Zealand about how this would work. The question is if you license
the firearm as opposed to the individual, how much buy in are you
going to get from those people who wouldn't want to front up with a
firearm in the first place, in other words are you seriously going
to get the sawn off shotguns under the bed being brought in to be
registered, and that's the question that you have to ask from a
practical point of view. It wasn't an easy debate but in the end
both major political parties in that term of parliament decided not
to proceed with that legislation, but there's gotta be an answer. I
tell you the development that's occurred since then significantly
as you referred to Guyon, is this issue of internet trading.
GUYON But surely there are some other fundamentals
like the buy back of military styles in the automatic weapons, I
mean why does someone need a weapon like that in New Zealand?
SIMON Good question.
GUYON Well what are you gonna do about it?
SIMON Well as I said the Police are currently
providing the Police Minister with advice on a range of options to
consider this. One thing that we're really really cautious about is
overreacting in what has been a tragic situation over the last ten
days or so, we've gotta be very careful that we do this in a very
considered and rational way.
GUYON But how much consideration do we need, 12
years since the Thorp report, National and Labour governments have
sat on their hands, can you commit to us this morning that this
government that you're part of is not going to do the same
thing?
SIMON I'm confident that when the advice comes
from the Police to the Police Minister she will have suggestions
for the Cabinet.
GUYON Okay, can we move on to another issue which
is often hotly debated and that is the sale and control of alcohol,
it seems as though you are against actually raising the drinking
age back up to 20, is that completely off the government's
agenda?
SIMON No I've as a conscience vote always voted to
- at least in recent years - to keep the purchase age of alcohol at
18. I've said on this show to you before that the thing I consider
to be the most pressing issue in the area of liquor form is the
regulatory environment itself, that is the number of liquor license
that are available, the hours that those liquor licenses are able
to operate for.
GUYON So in practical terms are we going to see
bars closed earlier? I walked up to the studio at TVNZ this morning
and there is a bar open at seven o'clock in the morning, 20-30
drunk people outside. Do we need bars to be open to five, six,
seven in the morning?
SIMON It was eight o'clock in the morning when I
walked past the same bar on the way here and I stood at the
pedestrian crossing thinking to myself, I wonder if Guyon's going
to ask me this question. The reality is, I don't think that any
reform of liquor which we'll know a substantial amount more about
in July when the Law Commission reports 12 months ahead of time
like I've asked them to, that sort of situation has gotta be right
under the magnifying glass.
GUYON So you don't believe that bars should be
open all day and all night as they are at the moment?
SIMON I think there is significant room for reform
in that area.
GUYON A compelling argument that Geoffrey Palmer
has for the Law Commission is increasing the excise on alcohol,
increasing the tax on it. I mean what is it 800 million dollars a
year from that alcohol excise, yet the harm done by alcohol as Paul
Holmes said in the intro here, is five billion dollars a year,
you've got a massive disconnect from the money that you take in
versus the money that we actually pay for this problem, why not
increase the tax on alcohol?
SIMON Look I think that's one of the options that
Sir Geoffrey's put in his report.
GUYON Is it an option that's acceptable for you to
consider?
SIMON I will consider it, and the government will
look closely at the recommendations when they're tabled in July and
you'll have a full government response at that time.
GUYON Do you think that we're taking too long for
this though, I mean there's been this debate that's gone on and on
and creates such a problem, I think the Police tell us that 90% of
their callouts between say 10.00pm and 6.00am are alcohol
related.
SIMON Oh look the one thing that came through in
the Drivers of Crime meeting that Pita Sharples and I co-hosted in
April, was that alcohol is a crucial factor in the commission of
crime, no question about that. Sir Geoffrey's going to make a range
of suggestions, I don't think it's too slow, I've brought it
forward 12 months from when the last government wanted to report on
it, and I want it done at the same time that the Sale of Liquor
Bill which is currently before the House is done. One crack at it,
a thorough crack at it and make sure that we don't have to keep
going over this conversation year after year.
GUYON Well one thing he talks about, Geoffrey
Palmer, is not making it a conscience vote. I mean you get into
this ridiculous situation where 120 odd members of parliaments each
individually get lobbied, very very hard, and we end up with a
shambles of a legislation.
SIMON Look I think what you saw with the Sale of
Liquor Bill that's just gone to a Select Committee was that it was
voted on party lines. Whether or not something's a conscience vote
is a matter for each caucus, not for the executive or the
government, and the age of purchase I think will continue to be a
conscience issue. The wider regulatory regime in my view is much
more likely material for party and government positions.
GUYON Just before we leave it can I also ask you
about another area of the criminal justice system I guess that does
affect a lot of people and has been very hotly debated, and that is
the anti smacking legislation. Will the government respect the
result of the referenda on that piece of legislation?
SIMON Yeah, the postal referenda, I've got
oversight of that as Minister of Justice, it's due to occur
July/August over a four to six week period from memory. All I'm
aware of is that once the referenda is completed the government
will consider it.
GUYON Will you stand by the result of it though,
will you honour the result of that referendum?
SIMON Oh look I think you know a significant
amount of how we have to consider the issue will be reflected in
the referenda, it's a matter for the Prime Minister to comment on
more generally.
GUYON A strong opponent of that legislation,
Christine Rankin, was appointed to the Families Commission this
week, did you support that appointment?
SIMON Oh look I'm not going to tell you what was
discussed in Cabinet, the Cabinet supported that appointment,
therefore I did.
GUYON Can I give you the opportunity now to say
that you did support it?
SIMON The Cabinet supported the decision Guyon,
I'm in the Cabinet, that's the end of it.
GUYON Right, that's the end of our time, thank you
very much Minister for coming in and joining us this morning/
SIMON Pleasure, thank you.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentdaved said on 2012-11-04 @ 11:01 NZDT: Report abusive post
Saddly enough we seem to be really living in another world not the real New Zealand. We are good at farming and the industries relating to this industry. We need to become the best in the word instead of focusing on 1.5 million people who live in Auckland and their housing problems. Be proud we are different to countries like China and America. Our inovation relating to farming and horicuture is sort by the world. We are inovative, clever and pioneers. Not apprieciate so we leave!!
4awinner said on 2012-05-27 @ 09:47 NZDT: Report abusive post
Retirement. Crazy raising the age! Why because this means more unemployment for the new generation. What is a better investment giving young people the dole or retiries a pension. Pension recievers do not ushally cost the country in crime and all the othe social woes that sucks this cuontry dry. BECAUSE young people NEED a job and future. We have 4 children in Australia all doing very well. The wages give them hope for the future which New Zealand could not but they still love this country.
Yady said on 2011-11-28 @ 09:41 NZDT: Report abusive post
the country is full of complacent morons who love to complain but dont get of there arse to vote.... cant beleive where this country is headed, where just like the yanks, maybe worse because we think we are better than them....shame shame shame..... who can blame us for moving to aussie... the nz government is for the nz rich list, they dont care about the poor..... shame shame shame..... and the media should be held accountable.... they done this... i want to hear the tea tapes!
Yady said on 2011-11-28 @ 09:35 NZDT: Report abusive post
those who didn't vote should be ashamed of themselves.... this country is full of moaning couch potatoes..... just what national needed... shame shame shame....
cheekychick said on 2011-11-27 @ 10:03 NZDT: Report abusive post
Michelle Boag calling Winston names is disgusting and offensive Jan