GUEST BLOG: Jackie Foster – SJA Political Policy Opinion

Remembering that SJA remains A Political (Politically neutral) I have to say how refreshing the Green Party Justice Policy is to read.

To date the Greens are the only party to explain their policy and why it is their policy.

Let’s take National for example, where they say we will remove cultural reports. Why and what is the benefit of that policy to Aotearoa?

The Green Party speak openly about Te Tiriti o Waitangi being considered as part of policy making and I have to say why not? After all Te Tiriti is Aotearoa’s founding document.

Below I make comment on specific policy that involves the work that SJA does.

● Social Responsibility: Everyone is entitled to justice, to a fair hearing, and to be treated with respect in the justice system.

Social justice is sadly lacking in Aotearoa, and recently is only getting worse. On the back of the Allan Hall shambles SJA is actually calling for an independent investigation in the police and IPCA handling of a lot of these kinds of situations and finally we have a political party prepared to stand up and say we will make sure there is social justice.

● Appropriate Decision-Making: The rule of law and judicial independence are fundamental values that should be protected; justice should follow transparent and fair processes, and the right to justice must be equitably protected in all its forms.

The words “fundamental values” is so important and something that no other political party uses. SJA has always said that citizens of Aotearoa should be treated all the same in every aspect of daily life no matter what your origin, race or religion is.

● Ensure that everyone before the justice system, at any stage of the process, regardless of gender, race, origin, or financial status, is treated equally, accorded due process, and without any limitation on their right to justice.

The legal aid system in Aotearoa leaves a lot to be desired and SJA has always said that true open honest justice should never have to be brought. Our current situation allows those who can afford to pay for the best legal representation are far better represented than others than can not afford to engage such representation. SJA has always said the best representation should be openly available to everyone even if it is state funded and is paid back over time. Our current legal aid funding policy violates international rights in criminal procedure, by limiting the right to choose one’s own counsel and the right to have adequate funding, time, and facilities to prepare a defence. Community Law Centres are available to help with some matters, but are not adequately resourced, and legal aid is limited.

● Take a preventative approach to addressing the over-representation of Māori and Pasifika young people in the youth justice system, including by addressing child poverty.

I think it is important to acknowledge the over representation of Maori and Pasifika in our judicial system and this issue needs to be addressed. I have said many times that the less privileged in our community are vulnerable and poverty plays a big part in the origin of crime in Aotearoa, so a really good policy, far away from the lock them up for longer concept of other political parties.

Aotearoa New Zealand has one of the highest rates of imprisonment and reoffending in the developed world with many politicians taking the approach of ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ without consideration of the underlying precursors of offending that include poverty, alcohol and other drug addictions, and systemic racism.

● Ensure transparency remains a cornerstone of our justice system and is only limited to the extent necessary to protect the privacy and safety interests of victims and accused or to preserve the interests of justice.

Currently we have one of the most shrouded justice systems in the western world. A classic example of this is the sexual violation bill where the defendant or the accused simply has no chance of actually telling the real story where the accuser can say I’m sorry, but I do not want that information to be known to a jury? That’s hardly a level playing field is it. A good policy that is needed.

● Widen the use of online court systems to provide a service for civil disputes, from early stages of providing information on rights and obligations to assisting in resolution and making a determination.

Currently the civil dispute process in Aotearoa is terribly slow and needs a complete overhaul. Online litigation is used in so many countries and is simply a logical practise that needs to be implemented here giving the opportunity to have the neighbours or retailers held to account for wrong doings. Simple easy dispute resolution.

● Youth offenders who begin interacting with the justice system at a young age, often never leave the justice system. We need to reform the youth justice system, so that the prison pipeline for juvenile prisoners is broken.

SJA advocates against the current youth detention system we have, and we believe that starting at the grass roots of the youth offending will see a reduction over time, something that is desperately needed in Aotearoa.

● Establish a Crown Prosecution Service, independent from the investigatory process, to be responsible for deciding which charges to lay and carrying out all prosecutions.

This policy is simply a breath of fresh air. Currently our judicial system is not independent, and we would suggest Crown law is simply the police with another name. imagine an independent entity charged with deciding what is factual and what is not. If we could achieve this, the likes of Allan Hall and Teina Pora shambles simply would never have happened.

All of the above is only a sample of the Green party justice/crime/policing policy and as I have said it is simply so refreshing to be able to sit and read policy that has reasoning, and serious logic behind it, but also policy that makes a lot of sense and could seriously make a lot of good change for Aotearoa.