MEDIA RELEASE – For immediate use, 10 May 2012

Proposed trial process reforms could erode an accused’s rights

The New Zealand Law Society is concerned that proposed reforms in the Law Commission’s issues paper, Alternative Pre-Trial and Trial Processes: Possible reforms, would erode an accused’s rights within the criminal justice process.

The difficulty with any reform that promotes protection of the complainant within the criminal justice process, the Law Society says, is that the integrity of the process itself is compromised.

Jonathan Krebs, Convenor of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, says that it is a long standing tenet of the New Zealand criminal justice system, that the accused is entitled to a fair trial.

“We need to have a serious look at these proposals which would make fundamental changes to processes that have been followed in our country for a very long time,” he says.

The Law Society is also opposed to the proposal that would see a judge making a decision before a trial as to whether the evidence is sufficient to go to trial.

“This would mean a single person would decide what evidence they wanted to hear, and would then decide the outcome of the case.”

“This is a fundamental departure from the common law adversarial tradition which reflects important values that inhere in our society and legal structures,” says Mr Krebs.

The Law Society supports the Law Commission’s proposal that an alternative resolution process outside of the criminal justice system would resolve certain sexual offence cases.

However, the Law Society says, the process would need further consultation around the specifics before introduction.
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