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Raising Youth Court Age a Recipe for Disaster

Darroch Ball MP
Spokesperson for Youth Affairs

7 DECEMBER 2016

RAISING YOUTH COURT AGE A RECIPE FOR DISASTER

The government is turning a blind eye to the fact that the youth justice system in New Zealand is failing, says New Zealand First Youth Affairs Spokesperson Darroch Ball.

“It’s incomprehensible that today the Justice Minister Amy Adams has raised the age to include 17 year olds.

“The Minister knows that young offenders are continuously cycling in and out of our youth justice system indicating inadequate intervention.

“Forty percent of young offenders have offended three or more times under this system and 14% of them have offended an astonishing six or more times – that’s a failing system.

“We also have a ridiculous situation where 70% of all youth offenders do not step foot in a youth court and are therefore not included in this government’s measure of youth crime.

“So this government’s claim of a drop in youth crime is based on just a tiny portion of offending and doesn’t reflect the real magnitude of the problem.

“Instead of preventing further offending, the youth justice system is a breeding ground, a conveyer-belt for criminals.

“Half of all adult prisoners have been through Youth Court – that is a failing system.

“New Zealand First believes the Youth Court age should not be changed.

“Criminal youth need to be held accountable and that is not happening,” says Mr Ball.

“Why would we want to extend a failing system to include even more young people and end up failing them too?”

ENDS


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