Liquor Bans Criminalize Young People

Media Release 11 November 2010

Christchurch academic and lawyer, David Small, has come out against the proposed extension of Police powers for the enforcement of liquor bans.

He believes that before any new powers are given to Police with respect to liquor bans, there should be a review of the way current liquor-ban laws are being enforced.

Official figures obtained by Dr Small under the Official Information Act reveal that it is overwhelmingly young people who are being prosecuted for breaches of liquor bans. And for many of those people, breaching the liquor ban is their first offence.

Dr Small freely admits that he regularly breaches liquor bans walking to city restaurants with a bottle of wine.

“People who are twenty years younger and out later at night would get a criminal record for exactly the same action”, he believes. “If liquor bans were enforced even-handedly, there would be a massive public outcry.”

Dr Small said that the liquor ban laws are giving criminal records to many fine young citizens who should not be dragged into the criminal justice system. “I know many people who have been affected by these laws and they should not have criminal records,” he said. “They were not drunk or disorderly but were just caught in possession of alcohol”.

“It amounts to the criminalization of youth”, he said.

“Liquor bans should be enforced even-handedly or not at all. And if they are maintained, breaches of them should be treated like parking tickets not criminal offences”.

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[Update]

Further to my media release earlier today, please find attached the statistics I obtained earlier this year that form the basis of my claim that liquor bans are being enforced disproportionately against young people and bringing otherwise law-abiding young people into the criminal justice system for the first time.

In the first four years of the liquor ban, half of those convicted for breaches were under 21, 76% were under 25, and 86% were under 31 years of age.

Almost 60% of the under 21 year-olds were convicted for the first time. That is 6,856 people who would otherwise have not had a conviction, people who have been criminalized because of their youth.

OIA_SMALL_David_20100601.pdf
Liquor_ban_analysis.pdf

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