MANA questions whether the right to a jury trial should be handed away while the country's attention is taken by the Rugby World Cup.

"Justice Minister Simon Power couldn’t take away NZer’s right to silence but, while everyone’s attention was diverted by the Rugby World Cup, he got Labour and the Maori Party to help him deny people’s right to a jury trial.

The decision to save money and time in the courts by denying NZer’s right to be judged by their peers is a scandal, and will punish the poorest members of our society – Maori, Pasifika, and the poor – again. MANA says the right to a jury trial is a fundamental civil right which shouldn’t have been sneaked through parliament while the Rugby World Cup was on".

ENDS