10 February 2015
For Immediate Release

Restorative justice law change: Basic rights under threat as remand facilities stretched beyond capacity

Auckland remand facilities are being stretched beyond capacity and defendants are being held in inappropriate circumstances due to a well-meaning but poorly executed legislative change.

An amendment to the Sentencing Act 2002 in late 2014 means in certain circumstances where the defendant pleads guilty and there is an identifiable victim, the District Court judge must adjourn or suspend the case for the option of restorative justice to be explored.

“The change has led to a significant increase in adjournments, which has had the knock-on effect of a significant increase in demand for remand facilities”, says JustSpeak’s National Operations Manager Maddy King. “In Auckland, we have been told that the Mount Eden Corrections Facility is completely full, and has been since the start of the year. This means defendants end up remanded to the Manukau Police Hub until a bed at Mount Eden becomes free. The Manukau Police Hub is designed to house defendants for a night or two at the most – not for up to a week at a time as we are currently seeing.”

“Overnight holding facilities such as the Manukau Police Hub are simply inadequate for detaining defendants for long periods. They do not have the necessary facilities to allow defendants to have visitors, changes of clothes, exercise or access to necessary rehabilitative programs. Being shuffled between full remand facilities and overnight holding facilities in this way means defendants are denied access to services and programs necessary to ensure a minimum quality of life. This is extremely concerning and could have long-term impacts on the defendants and their whānau.”

“Equally concerning is the fact that by the time some defendants return to court for sentencing, they have already served a sentence in remand beyond what they would have received if they had been sentenced upon pleading guilty. To have people detained for periods beyond what they would get at sentencing is a serious rights issue.”

“We have long campaigned for greater investment in restorative justice programs and for it to be available to all defendants and victims who wish to participate. However, the amendment means courts and remand facilities are now at crisis point. The problems that are arising are in no way related to restorative justice as a process: the problems stem from ill-considered legislative drafting.”

“It begs the question: what kind of consultation was carried out by the Ministry of Justice when drafting this amendment? It seems that even cursory consultation with judges or criminal law practitioners would have foreshadowed these problems. The fact that changes are being made to the ways in which the courts operate without regard to resource implications suggests consultation with key stakeholders may have been severely lacking.”

“Restorative justice has enormous and transformative potential in terms of the outcomes for both offenders and victims. However it needs a strong legislative and policy framework to reach its potential. We hope the new Minister for Justice considers amending the section to provide judges with greater flexibility or considers properly resourcing the courts and remand facilities to cope with the increased number of adjournments.”

ENDS

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