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NZ First

Website Justice Policy and Law and Order Policy

LAW AND ORDER

INTRODUCTION

It is a basic right of all New Zealanders to live in a safe society.

New Zealand faces three fundamental issues in restoring the safe society we expect. The first is the need to restore public confidence in the police force. The second, which is linked to the first, is to dramatically increase police numbers to allow them to do their duty more effectively. The third issue relates to the prioritisation of the police force, and in this regard New Zealand First advocates the separation of traffic and policing duties.

We simply must target burgeoning violent crime, which has been underpinned by the insidious gang and drug cultures which are increasingly becoming entrenched. An immediate campaign against lawlessness is needed now, while longer-term strategies are required to deal with the root causes of crime and with the scourge that is organised crime.

New Zealand First recognises that the rights of the victims are paramount, and that the offender's rights are subject to the rights of both the victim and the State.

New Zealand First acknowledges that unemployment, poor parenting, inappropriate peer group pressure, and other socio-economic factors contribute markedly to our crime rate. We advocate a balanced policy prescription containing the elements of prevention, apprehension, punishment, and rehabilitation. Frequently prison inmates come out worse than when they went in. This is not acceptable.

New Zealand First will introduce a category of outcome sentences which put the onus on the criminal to show that he or she is ready for release. New Zealand First's policies are tough, but fair and non-restrictive for law-abiding citizens.

We will integrate emergency services into a single Ministry of Emergency Services. Civil Defence, Police, Fire, and Ambulance will share facilities, stations, radio communication facilities, vehicles and civilian support staff. Information will be shared amongst these services to better co-ordinate services.

PLANS

New Zealand First will also:

• introduce legislation to ban all criminal gangs;
• continue to increase police numbers over the next five years to bring the ratio of police to population in line with that of Australia with the aim of creating safer communities;
• develop the Organised Crime Agency under the auspices of the police to crack down on organised crime, particularly gangs, and on crimes such as drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering;
• give local police and community groups greater power and ability to deal with local problems, and, in particular ensure that Neighbourhood Watch has the resources to maintain and expand its community coverage;
• ensure that appropriate emergency services are available to meet the needs of all communities;
• introduce new measures designed to prevent crime 'at the source' and aim to eliminate the reasons young people enter into a life of crime;
• overhaul current legislation relating to the sentencing of serious, violent offenders to provide greater protection for the public. If there is not genuine rehabilitation the offender will serve the full sentence;
• make offenders more directly accountable to their victims and communities;
• make greater use of Limited Service Volunteers as diversion for young offenders and to promote the use of the cadet corps for at risk youth; and,
• extend the range of sentencing options for violent young offenders including: 'secure training order' sentences involving supervised control and intensive rehabilitation; other secure and military-type training options; and; widening the range of offences for which young offenders are automatically subject to adult processes, e.g. attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, serious repeat offending.

RESOURCING OF POLICE

PLANS

New Zealand First will:

• increase the ratio of police to population by arresting the current exodus from our police force of both experienced and recently recruited officers, providing incentives for former officers to return to the force (including in non-sworn roles where their expertise will be valued) and providing additional frontline police (and non-sworn support);
• require a focus on community policing including foot patrols and the regaining of the lost conduit of valuable information about offenders and offending from citizens and business people;
• ensure that necessary police numbers are engaged in frontline duties by providing the requisite level of administrative support;
• rationalise the top tier of the police hierarchy by requiring the deployment of more of the experienced sworn police officers out of the Office of the Commissioner of Police (Police National Headquarters as it is otherwise known) and place them back out into operational areas for which they have been extensively and expensively trained. This will result in better supervision of younger constables and improved oversight of cases involving serious crimes;
• restore confidence in the police and (in particular) declare war on gangs to make it impossible for them to operate legally;
instigate a zero tolerance regime of abuse and crimes against police officers in the discharge of their duties;
provide police with new powers to conduct random searches in designated public areas at designated times if there is a reasonable belief that individuals could be carrying dangerous weapons;
expand the current legislation to ensure all people arrested are DNA tested and the records stored (there must also be the facility for voluntary swabs). This will occur at the same time and in the same manner as applies at present for finger printing of all those arrested and will simply form an electronic record of detainees as opposed to a database of prints. Mouth swabs will generally be used as opposed to blood samples;
adequately resource the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) to ensure it can cope with the increased demand for DNA testing;
• dramatically increase the number of trained police dogs and dog handlers;
• establish a compulsory register for all convicted paedophiles, with a legal requirement that they notify police of any change in address. Police will have the power to warn schools and community groups about the presence of convicted child sex offenders; and,
better connect the community with the police force by expanding dedicated squads for community policing, serious crime/fraud, burglary, drugs, gang liaison, organised crime and other major crime fighting initiatives.

BAIL LAWS

New Zealand First believes that the granting of bail must be fair and embrace both the needs of the victims of crime and the concerns of the community.

PLANS

New Zealand First will:

• amend bail laws to ensure public safety is given priority;
• amend the law so that suspects or offenders may have the right to remain silent OR the right to apply for bail, BUT NOT BOTH;
• ensure police have the time and resources to put all relevant information before the court;
• give the judiciary clear guidance on how those with previous convictions should be dealt with on bail applications; and,
• amend bail laws so that in a prima facie case, warranting trial for serious violent offences, bail will not be granted.

CORRECTIONS

The current rate of imprisonment in New Zealand is too high and reflects on the ineffectiveness of sentencing and rehabilitation regimes as well as on the levels of crimes being committed. New Zealand's corrections system has been in disarray and in need of a radical and fundamental overhaul. Some improvements have been made but serious deficiencies remain.

PLANS

New Zealand First will:

place the Prison Service within the Ministry of Justice with a focus on co-ordination of services and objectives;
• ensure that upon entry into a corrections facility all inmates with a sentence of six months or more will receive a psychological, medical and educational aptitude test and all rehabilitation programmes will be based on the outcomes of these tests;
• where evidence exists of drug and alcohol abuse the inmate will immediately embark on a detox programme, a requirement which will need to be supported by the better provision of addiction treatment services;
• segregate inmates with mental illnesses from all other inmates and ensure that they receive appropriate treatment;
• ensure that the pay and conditions of prison service guards aid in maintaining morale, assist recruitment and retention;
• tighten up parole laws and repeal 'community service', with the aim of reinstating periodic detention; and,
• conduct a study into recidivism with the aim of assessing exactly which rehabilitation programmes actually work and which are token gestures and a waste of taxpayer money. Based on this New Zealand First will institute those programmes proven to reduce recidivist crime.

FIREARMS

New Zealand First's firearms policy is based on the belief that the public have a right to be protected from those with potential to misuse firearms.

PLANS

New Zealand First will:

• provide Police with the necessary resources and powers to scrutinise, and vet the suitability of individuals to own firearms (including the right to access medical records);
• review the results of Firearms Law Reforms implemented in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom;
• increase penalties (including minimum sentences) for firearm offences including improper possession and improper storage; and,
• resource increased random inspections of licensees' premises to check the security of firearms.

TRAFFIC OFFENCES (also see transport policy)

PLANS

New Zealand First will:

• extend roadside 'impairment' testing to remove drivers under the influence of drink or drugs from our roads;
• legislate so that it is an offence to carry an open container of liquor in the seating compartment of a vehicle;
• ban the use of cell phones while driving;
• ensure there is automatic loss of driver's licence for any person convicted of highway assault (road rage);
• remove recidivist drunk drivers from our roads. A second offence should lead to the clamping of the vehicle and a consequence of a third offence should be the confiscation of the vehicle; and,
• ensure that any person using a motor vehicle in committing a serious crime will automatically suffer loss of licence and in some circumstances their vehicle;

JUSTICE

INTRODUCTION

The foundation of New Zealand First's justice policy is based on the dual premises that we must adhere to the rule of law and that all New Zealanders must be equal before the law.

New Zealand First strongly believes that the principles of freedom and rights of New Zealanders are protected and enhanced by a justice system which provides easy access to the courts, the unbiased and efficient delivery of justice to all New Zealanders, and the protection of all New Zealanders from oppression.

The New Zealand system of justice is based on the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, Habeas Corpus, Trial by Jury and the English Common Law and enhanced by the development of Statute law for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

New Zealand First is determined to ensure that the New Zealand justice system can provide these rights to the public of New Zealand.

JUSTICE AND LAW REFORM

The cornerstone of New Zealand First's justice and law reform policy is to enhance the public confidence in the judicial system, and to ensure that the system reflects principles of openness, accountability, independence, and integrity. New Zealand First also has some concern at the disposition of this current government to make significant constitutional change with little or no reference to the people.

PLANS

New Zealand First will:

• ensure that all issues of moral and social import such as prostitution, civil unions, and constitutional issues, cannot be changed except by way of referendum;
• reduce the cost of all court fees to as close as possible to pre-2001 levels in real terms;
• ensure that all persons are treated equally before the law and that no privileges will be granted to any sector of the community arising from their race, culture, or any other reason;
• review family legislation with a view to simplifying the provisions of the Care of Children Act and establishing a Protection of Families Act which will incorporate the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act 1995 and the Care of Children Act 2004 with a view to giving the Family court more flexibility in dealing with family violence situations and removing the rigidity which exists in the current system, a rigidity which results in the more difficult family break-ups becoming extreme situations; and even fatal;
• provide the resources necessary to ensure that High Court jury trials are conducted without undue delay;
• conduct a review of the Judicial Conduct Commissioner and the Judicial Conduct Panel Act 2004 and ensure adequate resources for the judiciary;
• retain the system of Depositions Hearings as a Preliminary Hearing before trials in criminal cases;
• review the system of land ownership by way of cross-lease title to make it easier for existing owners of cross-lease titles to have clearer title to their property;
• continue to promote an independent judicial commission to recommend the appointment of judges, oversee the administration of the courts, provide training for judges, and process and report on complaints; and,
• require that any future major constitutional change occurs only following a positive referendum.

SENTENCING

PLANS

New Zealand First will:

• estrict eligibility for, and strengthen supervision of, home detention;
• allow that the accused can be re-tried for the original crime where there is clear evidence that an acquittal or change to a lesser offence has resulted from intimidation, perjury, or bribery of a victim, witness, and/or juror. These offences will be elevated to the status of a most serious crime and will carry an automatic sentencing upon conviction, of a minimum 10-year sentence without any form of remission. Similarly, new evidence will be treated on the same basis;
• remove concurrent sentences for those guilty of serious crime and for those who commit offences while on parole, on bail, or whilst in custody;
• strengthen monitoring requirements in relation to community-based sentences;
• support the full implementation of a Sentencing Council charged with providing guidelines for consistent sentencing;
• review the adequacy of maximum sentences for serious criminal offences;
• investigate the implementation of a degrees of murder sentencing regime, for the most repugnant and abhorrent of violent crime;
• deter recidivist offending by introducing the principle of 'three strikes and you're out'. This will mean that offenders convicted for three crimes for which they have been sentenced to any period of community service, or incarceration in a prison or correction centre, will be required to serve a substantial minimum period in prison;
• increased use of mandatory minimum sentences for violent offenders with no automatic rights to sentence reduction;
• replace the Parole Board with a Rehabilitation Board with a primary objective of minimising recidivism. The Board will be required to consider the actual duration of imprisonment and to ensure a serious violent offender has demonstrated remorse and a positive attitude to rehabilitation, before considering any parole;
• require that, upon conviction for a serious and/or violent crime non-New Zealand citizens will be repatriated; and,
• provide the legislative framework to ensure that fines are collected and reparations made.

VICTIMS' RIGHTS AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

Victims of crime must not become the forgotten people in our criminal justice system. At present there is a lack of coherent and organised delivery of victim support services in the overall government response to crime.

PLANS

New Zealand First will:

• establish a group within the Ministry of Justice to oversee the effective co-ordination, funding and delivery of victim support services by various agencies through every phase of the criminal justice system;
• give the new unit responsibility for raising public awareness of the availability of victim support services;
• ensure that victim support groups receive adequate funding which reflects both the demand for and quality of the services they provide;
• make certain victims of crime will be given a permanent representative on the Rehabilitation Board;
• not support convicted criminals being able to profit from their crime through compensation payment;
• ensure that families of victims will have mandatory rights to full information on rehabilitation hearings, to appear in person, to have an advocate, or to make written submissions;
• require disclosure of criminal history of violent offenders released on home detention or parole;
• support amendments to the law so that victims of offenders sentenced to psychiatric hospitals will be told when the offender is discharged from hospital, and introduce the legal test of 'guilty but insane'.
• also ensure that offenders are made accountable for their actions to the victims of their crimes, and that they are made to pay for the emotional and physical damage they cause;
• enhance the use of reparation orders by requiring courts to give them preference over fines;
• help ensure victims receive court ordered reparations (deductions from income or benefits may be ordered as appropriate);
• expand the use of reparation orders beyond the current focus on property crimes;
• introduce a regime of fixed-term sentencing for specified crimes where the degree of involvement or other claimed contributory factors will be given no regard; and,
• pilot a system whereby those convicted of serious crimes will be offered remission in exchange for completing their time to be served under a regime of hard labour.

YOUTH JUSTICE

New Zealand First believes that a priority for reducing youth crime is ensuring that all young people are engaged in full time employment. Unemployment means that this group in particular, do not have the finances to participate fully in society, have little or no self esteem and too much time on their hands. A person's occupation is largely the basis of their standing in our community.

Young people (and their parents) will be made more accountable to the community for their crimes. New Zealand First will focus on entry level crime to put a stop to young people entering a life of crime.

• provide a policy and legislation framework that requires greater parental responsibility for young offenders;
• ensure that young recidivist offenders are able to be dealt with by an expanded and reconstituted Youth Court;
• provide improved guidelines to the Youth Court on the treatment of young recidivist offenders;
• retain Family Group Conferences (FGC) for those who choose to offend under the age of 12 years but even then, any offender under the age of 12 years will be entitled to be dealt with under this provision only three times and should they choose to offend again, will be dealt with by the adult criminal courts;
• ensure that parents of those children subject to the FGC process are tasked with completing appropriate parent training;
• provide the Youth Court with guidelines as to when anonymity of proceedings should be removed to reinforce the offender's accountability to the community;
• provide police with the powers and resources to address truant behaviour and prevent it from escalating into habitual truancy, which itself almost guarantees the truant's involvement in the youth justice system and a graduation into serious crime;
• ban the sale of violent or sexually explicit video games to minors;
• introduce stricter controls on the ratings of, and restrictions to the access to violent or sexually explicit videos;
• oppose all efforts to legalise cannabis and any other form of illicit drugs;
• raise the drinking age;
• make it clear that violent young offenders should indeed be treated differently from non-violent offenders through special 'secure training order' sentences involving supervised control and intensive rehabilitation, and other secure and military-type training options; and,
• extend the range of offences for which youths are automatically subject to adult processes, e.g. attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, and serious repeat offending.

Progressives

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JUSTICE LAW AND ORDER

08 Oct 2008

The Progressive Party is committed to the maintenance of a ‘fair go’ society in which all citizens are entitled to enjoy a decent and peaceful life and in which they are fully protected from the unlawful activities of those who would disrupt it.

There are always going to be those who will need to be locked up to protect the rest of us and if returned to government we intend to continue our work to keep these people to a minimum and to make sure they are dealt with appropriately.

IN GOVERNMENT WE HAVE:

Been instrumental in significantly increasing funding for law and order, including for victim support.

Ensured that police numbers have been and continue to be boosted considerably.

Tightened the rules on fine defaulters, expanded restorative justice, and tightened parole conditions.

Introduced tougher sentences and minimum sentences for a range of crimes, particularly crimes involving violence. We have opened a number of new courts and police stations, and two new prisons.

Taken steps to discourage tagging and the misuse of motor vehicles by young people

AS ASSOCIATE MINISTER OF HEALTH:

Progressive leader Jim Anderton has been responsible for ensuring that the resources available to enforcement agencies (Police and Customs) in the drugs abuse and trafficking areas have been significantly increased along with stricter penalties for these crimes, and enhanced social and community programmes to get at their root causes.

He has also moved and continues to act to deal with the substance abuse problem identified by the Commissioner of Police as number one in relation to crime – alcohol. The Government Policy Committee on Drugs which he chairs has a number of initiatives under way particularly aimed at young people and the relationship between alcohol abuse and crime The Progressive Party has pressed for some time to have the minimum age of purchase lifted back to twenty and was responsible for a Private Members’ Bill to achieve this, which was unfortunately defeated.

IF RETURNED TO GOVERNMENT WE WILL:

Continue to take a hard line on crime and its perpetrators. But we do not think that this will be enough in itself.

In spite of headlines which would suggest otherwise, the overall fall in the crime rate is also a tribute to this government’s record in creating an average of a thousand jobs, week in and week out, over the last nine years to which it has made an important contribution. Creating opportunities for work at decent wages means not only that people are in jobs but they can support and house their families properly. That goes a long way to restoring their self respect and with that comes respect for others and their property.

In youth employment in particular we have reduced the number of 18 and 19 year olds unemployed from 27,000 in 1999 to less than a thousand today. This has had a significant impact on youth crime.

We are also strong supporters of early intervention. There is ample research supporting the view that the early identification of anti-social behaviour in children and programmes to redirect them onto positive paths are not only highly effective but a much more efficient way of applying resources to halting the development of crime and criminals. When we held the Corrections portfolio from 1999 to 2002 we began implementing early intervention programmes and if returned to government we will give our full support to advancing and upgrading these programmes.