Improving Maori Women's Access To Justice
Government Moves To Improve Maori Women's Access To Justice
A report prepared by the Ministry of Women's Affairs will steer government justice sector agencies in their bid to improve Maori women's access to justice, says Women's Affairs Minister Laila Harré.
Released today, the Ministry of Women's Affair's report is based on detailed analysis of two Law Commission reports published in 1999.
Laila Harré says the aim of the project was to create a framework to assist the Ministries of Corrections, Courts, Police and Justice to develop policies and services that better respond to the needs and cultural values of Maori women.
"There has been widespread acceptance of the reports' findings, and each of the key agencies have made a commitment to work towards improving the current situation," she says.
Issues raised include:
The current
system's failure to accommodate Maori customs and
values
Cultural insensitivity
The
lack of Maori personnel in the legal system
The
cost of services
Access to legal
information
Resourcing and support for existing
services
"Each of these agencies has now considered these specific issues and are putting systems and services in place to positively deal with them."
For example, to enhance its support of Maori customs and values the Department for Courts has recently developed a service charter for all courts.
The charter will be implemented in March this year and will be available in English and Maori. One of its key requirements is that staff show respect and cultural sensitivity by taking care to spell and say Maori names correctly.
Laila Harré said such changes are the starting point for a framework that reflects the reality of women's experiences of the justice system.
"Women have significantly different reasons for using legal services than men. Many women experience the justice system as victims, partners, parents and support people of others involved in the system," she says.
1 February
2001
Report on the Ministry of Women's Affairs Women’s
Access to Justice project
History
In 1996 the Law
Commission commenced a project titled Women’s Access to
Justice. The project was in response to serious concerns
among women about the accessibility and operation of our
justice system. The project terms of reference required an
examination of the response of the justice system to the
experiences of women in New Zealand, recognising the
importance of the Treaty of Waitangi for Mäori women. A
primary aim of the project was to learn about women’s
experiences of the justice system from women
themselves.
The culmination of this project was a study
paper by Joanne Morris OBE titled Women’s Access to Legal
Services and a report titled Justice: the Experiences of
Mäori Women, Te Tikanga o te Ture: te Mätauranga o ngä
Wähine Mäori e pa ana ki tënei both of which were published
in 1999.
Women's Access to Legal Services study
paper
The Women’s Access to Legal Services study paper
focuses on the problems that women have in simply getting
the legal services that they need to access the justice
system, and why existing services do not accommodate them as
they should. To assess how barriers in the justice system
operate to disadvantage women, and what may be done to
remove them, the study paper provides:
a summary
of what women said about their access to legal
services
a statistical account of the
circumstances of women in New Zealand, and
a
description of the legal services available to New
Zealanders.
As well as finding out and recording women’s experiences of the justice system, there was a clear intention from the outset to use the lessons learned from the study to bring about improvements in the justice system for women.
The study concludes that there are substantial barriers to the ability of New Zealanders to obtain the legal services they need to invoke the justice system’s protection. The nature of these barriers is such that they adversely affect women in particular.
For each component
of legal service provision discussed and examined, the
report identifies impediments that it then makes specific
recommendations to remedy. The use of a set of principles
and a process to promote the just treatment of women by the
justice system generally is recommended. As well, 71
specific recommendations were developed to assist government
policy and law makers to make changes to the ways in which
legal services are currently delivered, to potentially
benefit all New Zealanders.
Justice: the Experiences of
Mäori Women Law Commission report
Justice: the
Experiences of Mäori Women report provides a comprehensive
overview of the historical and social context of Mäori
women’s lives, and draws links between this context and
Mäori women’s experiences and perceptions of the justice
system. The report aims to assist New Zealand’s justice
institutions to better understand and respond to the needs
of Mäori women. It is particularly directed at those
justice agencies on which the Crown depends in the
performance of its Treaty of Waitangi obligations.
This
report does not focus on any particular aspect of the
justice system; rather it looks at the justice system as a
whole. The report identifies three general principles
intended to guide the development of justice sector policy
and operations:
partnership - a co-operative
approach with Mäori and agencies working together to achieve
best outcomes for Mäori women
options - Mäori
women should be able to access mainstream institutions,
Mäori institutions, or both; no presumption that all clients
will want to access the same service
participation – the means by which Mäori women can achieve
positive development, including community-based services,
better information provision, and more involvement in
management directions.
The report states that the access of Mäori women to justice cannot be considered only in the narrow context of services, but that it requires some additional understanding of the extent of their marginalisation in society generally. This marginalisation was seen in the consultations with the women as well as in statistical evidence that demonstrates the disparities between Mäori and non-Mäori women, and between Mäori men and non-Mäori men.
The report also provides background information on the complementary roles of men and women and highlights how Mäori social structures, particularly Mäori family structures and values, are under great stress.
During the consultations Mäori women spoke about
the failure of the justice sector to recognise Mäori values,
and failure to provide the option of services based on those
values and to provide access to the option of services.
This failure in turn led to barriers for the women in terms
of the costs of services, their access to legal information,
and their access to services. Generally, Mäori women
perceived the justice sector as treating them with little or
no value.
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs project
The
Ministry of Women’s Affairs initiated discussions with core
government justice sector agencies to explore how the future
development of justice sector policy and operations might be
more responsive to the concerns, needs and cultural values
of women, including Mäori women.
To that end, the Ministry drew together key information from the two Law Commission reports (above). As well, the Ministry obtained from the Law Commission a summary of the 48 consultation hui undertaken with Mäori women in 1996. That summary provides valuable insights into Mäori women’s specific experiences and perceptions of the various justice sector institutions. It therefore enabled the Ministry to identify the general themes and issues that related to justice sector agencies, to group together the specific comments by Mäori women relevant to each agency, and to set out a comprehensive list of comments relevant to each agency.
This material was
distilled into four individual reports, one for each
of:
The Ministry of Justice
The
Department for Courts
NZ Police
The
Department of Corrections
and disseminated to these
agencies in mid-2000 for their feedback and
comment.
Progress
Each of the agencies has now
examined its operations and processes, to determine how the
recommendations and key comments highlighted by the reports
might be addressed. All four agencies aim to address the
questions raised by the reports and have been able to
demonstrate the concrete contributions they have been making
and intend to continue making. There has been widespread
acceptance by the agencies of the reports’ findings, and a
stated commitment to work towards bettering the current
situation. There is agreement on the need to become more
responsive to Mäori including Mäori women, and also
acceptance of the principles proposed by the report (above)
of partnership, participation, and developing service
options.
The following are just some of the themes and issues identified for particular agencies by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, alongside a small sample of the responses made by the various departments. This is indicative of the flavour of the issues raised, and the progress being made.
failure to accommodate Mäori customs and
values, and cultural insensitivity
Mäori women referred
to many examples of unsatisfactory interactions with the
justice system that suggest that unsuccessful interpersonal
communication was precluded by a lack of acknowledgement of
Mäori values and culture.
“The Court processes are
insensitive to the needs of Mäori.”
“People don’t seem to
understand that our members of our whänau get their support
from their whänau. To separate that person is culturally
insensitive to the needs of that person. Often the women
are left alone with no support in an atmosphere which makes
them close up. Our wähine and our täne need that support
automatically given to them.”
“…Just hearing their names
correctly pronounced means a lot to Mäori people. Their
name in a lot of cases is all they have left.”
Family
Court clients have the right to bring whänau support with
the agreement of the court. The Department for Courts
recommends people speak to the local court manager if they
are experiencing any difficulties in this area. Also, court
advocacy support services are offered in most courts,
generally on a voluntary basis.
The Department for Courts
has recently developed a service charter for all courts.
The charter will be implemented in March 2001 and will be
available in English and Mäori. The charter includes as a
core service standard the requirement that staff show
respect and sensitivity for culture by, among other things,
taking care to spell and say names correctly. Training for
staff in tikanga and te reo is provided
regionally.
Training curricula at the Police College now
have a much stronger focus on cultural difference,
particularly Mäori language, culture, and Treaty of Waitangi
issues. Recruits also undergo a programme in te reo and
mihi.
The Department of Corrections has implemented a
number of cultural competencies for its staff, including an
increased awareness of tikanga and knowledge of te reo,
specifically in pronouncing common greetings and phrases and
understanding place names. It also has a human resource
strategy that includes recruiting staff who are responsive
to Mäori values and culture.
Mäori personnel -
Mäori women identified the lack of Mäori personnel in the
legal system as a major barrier.
“We need a lot more
Mäori people working in the justice system. We can utilise
those people to educate Mäori families in those communities
about the court system, rather than just a portion of the
community like ourselves. The majority of people going
through the system are predominantly Mäori and yet there are
not enough Mäori people on the other side to service us
through the system.”
The percentage of Mäori in the
Police has risen from 9.6% in 1994 to 10.8% in 2000.
Seventeen percent of recruits in the past two years have
acknowledged Mäori ancestry. Apart from the general
increase of Mäori in the Police, 33 iwi liaison officers,
dedicated to improving responsiveness to Mäori, have been
appointed across the 12 districts.
The Department for Courts has a policy of ensuring that its workforce reflects the community. Seventeen percent of the department’s current workforce identifies as being New Zealand Mäori. Particular emphasis is made to recruit Mäori staff for roles working closely with Mäori. For example, recent recruitment for 33 additional Victim Advisors nationwide included a focus on attracting Mäori applicants.
The prison service currently employs approximately 2,800 staff and 640 of these are Mäori. The Department of Corrections is developing recruitment, promotion and staff retention strategies to increase the proportion of Mäori staff both generally and in management positions.
cost of
services
Numerous comments emphasise the significance of
cost as a barrier for many Mäori women accessing lawyers and
other providers of legal services. In most cases, women are
not able to obtain the protections and entitlements they
require without some form of legal
representation.
Lawyers' fees are too high. If women
can't afford their services or are not eligible for legal
aid then they will just put up with their problems. Where
is the justice in the legal system when lawyers' fees are
too much for us to pay? How do we get help?”
“A lot of
whänau stay home because they cannot afford a lawyer. The
costs of orders, travel, accommodation, childcare are too
expensive. Women are putting up with abuse instead…”
“In
a rural area, a lawyer is about as high in community need as
a good doctor. Those doctors do everything. These lawyers
should be from the same beat. They need to have a broad
base, but also have a feel for the community. It does come
with experience but they have got to have the broad base
before they leave school."
Financial eligibility
criteria, and the contribution and recovery regimes will be
considered in the government’s review of eligibility
criteria for legal aid. The provisions of the Legal
Services Act 2000 also make clear that the funding of
community law centres has priority on the money from the New
Zealand Law Society’s Special Fund. As far as the funding
permits, the Legal Services Agency will ensure that people
with insufficient means to pay for legal services
nonetheless have access to them. The Legal Services Act
also enables the Agency to pilot the use of salaried lawyers
and bulk funding of legal services.
As well, the new regime envisaged for the regulation of the legal profession will provide a disclosure regime, an enhanced complaints and disciplinary regime (which is consistent with the recommendations of Women’s Access to Justice report), and will enable lawyers to practice in a variety of business forms and in association with other professions. These measures will address some of the women’s concerns about lack of lawyer responsiveness.
access to legal
information
We need a law advocate in our town. So when
someone has a concern with the police, or with a lawyer or
anything - even if they just want advice - we would have
someone that people could ring here and who could go to the
people to help them out..."
"Most women would either keep
their problems to themselves, but if they are lucky they
will by chance speak to other women for guidance.”
"In
the ‘80s there seemed to be a lot more information in those
days than there is today. The information was basic in the
form of comic strips, pamphlets and booklets. It worked and
it was really effective for our people…”.
The new Legal
Services Agency funds 24 Community Law Centres around New
Zealand. These centres provide legal advice and assistance
to people whether or not they are eligible for legal aid or
need legal representation. The centres’ activities cover a
wide range of legal issues including consumer matters,
tenancy matters, domestic violence, school suspension, and
motor vehicle transactions. They play an important
educative role, and because the communities that they serve
initiate their establishment, are responsive to the needs of
those communities. The new Legal Services Agency will also
be reviewing its communications as a result of changes in
the administration of legal aid.
resourcing and
support for existing services
“We fill in legal aid
forms. We tell them how much to put so they get legal aid.
We go in with them to their lawyers for communication advice
so that they can understand what the lawyers are talking
about. What hurts us the most is that we do the work for
nothing…”
"I wonder if one of the things that went
against AIPP [Abuse Intervention Pilot Programme] was that
it was a victim focused agency, it was a women focused
agency; that the priority is about the safety and advocacy
for women. Even in Women's Refuge, it is almost totally
reliant on volunteers to do the work - a very specialised
type of area. It seems to be when it comes to women's lives
that volunteers can do it. I'm not saying volunteers can't
do it, but they do need the constant training to be
effective. Yet, we have to have volunteers and no-one will
supply us with the funds to help train these people like
other organisations."
The review of the eligibility
criteria for legal aid will consider whether community
groups or other interest groups should be able to obtain
legal aid.
The concerns Mäori women raised about Community
Law Centres were addressed in the Supplementary Order Paper
to the Legal Services Bill, which has now passed into law.
The Legal Services Act 2000 provides for the new Legal
Services Agency to pilot alternative delivery mechanisms for
legal services.
Other measures
As well as responding
to specific issues, each department outlined the other
measures they are taking which, over time, are expected to
improve the access of women to the justice system.
The
Ministry of Justice
Most of the recommendations from the
Law Commission reports that relate to the Ministry of
Justice are being addressed by the government review of
eligibility criteria for legal aid and the review of the Law
Practitioners Act; the implementation of the Legal Services
Act 2000; the Ministerial review of the Guardianship Act
1968; the recent Supplementary Order Paper on the Victims
Rights Bill; and the Ministry’s review of policy and
practice arising from the evaluations associated with the
Domestic Violence Act 1995.
The Department for
Courts
Some of the issues raised relate directly to the
judiciary and the relevant material has been referred there.
In response to other issues, the department compiled a table
outlining the initiatives they are currently undertaking
that relate to the specific concerns raised in the report.
They have also included women’s access to justice issues
into their policy work programme for 2000/01.
NZ
Police
NZ Police contracted independent consultants to
undertake a survey of staff national and district policies
and practices relating to the issues raised. These results
were compiled into an internal report for dissemination to
staff and a number of initiatives are now underway which are
expected to address the issues raised. These initiatives
relate to Mäori in general, rather than being specifically
targeted to Mäori women. However, the spin-off from the
more general initiatives is expected to provide positive
outcomes for Mäori women.
Department of
Corrections
The use of Corrections’ services commences
only after sentencing, and therefore has little direct
influence on many of the front-end access to justice issues
that were raised. However, the department provided
information on the initiatives underway that are attempting
to deal with many of the underlying concerns and issues
expressed by women and Mäori women.
Conclusion
The
Ministry of Women’s Affairs believes that this project has
been a success in terms of focusing government agencies on
the issues raised initially by the Law Commission, and on
how they intend to address those issues that relate to them,
thereby improving the access of New Zealand women to justice
services.
The project has had a positive impact on the way the justice sector attempts to become more responsive to the needs and concerns of women in New Zealand.