DISTRICT COURTS - Courts of New Zealand

The DISTRICT COURTS
NEW ZEALAND
26
Specialist Youth Courts
The Youth Court has led the way in New Zealand by
developing court models that use ideas of therapeutic
justice within specialist courts to address specific needs
of offenders, families, and victims. These include the
Marae-based Youth Monitoring Courts in Gisborne
and Manurewa, the Auckland City Youth Court
Intensive Monitoring Group, and the well-established
Youth Drug Court in Christchurch.
Marae-based Monitoring Courts
Despite making up approximately 14% of the New
Zealand population, Māori account for approximately
50% of those appearing in the New Zealand Youth
Court, and up to 90% in some areas such as the Bay of
Plenty and the North Island East Coast. This is an overrepresentation
that can’t be allowed to continue, and
must be positively addressed.
Youth Liaison Judge Heemi Taumaunu has started a
specialised Youth Court. Its aim is to address youth
offending within the cultural setting of a marae in an
attempt to tackle the current disproportionate numbers
of Māori recidivist youth offenders, and Māori youth
offenders sentenced to imprisonment and supervision
with residence. This is the first time that a New Zealand
court has systematically conducted criminal cases on a
marae.
Each Court sitting begins with a powhiri at 8.30am
followed by Court commencing at 9.00am. All young
people appearing on that day are required to attend the
powhiri with their whānau, youth advocate, and lay
advocate. The Court is conducted inside the wharenui
and commences with a karakia. Each individual case
commences with a mihi. Each young person is dealt
with on an individual basis and when each case is called,
a kaumatua gives a special speech of welcome. The
kaumatua sits next to the judge and assists in the court
process. The young person is encouraged to respond
to the welcome by saying a mihi. This is aimed at reestablishing
the young person in their identity as Māori.
The young person and his or her family are invited
to participate fully in the hearing, as are all the other
professionals.
The purpose of the marae court is, amongst other
things, to seek solutions to Māori over-representation
in youth justice numbers by actively involving whānau,
hapū and iwi, and to use Māori language, culture and
protocols as part of the Court process. The project
represents an attempt to incorporate Māori tikanga
with the law. It is not designed to abandon the law and
start a tikanga-based court. The court does not have the
ability to do that.
The first Marae Youth Monitoring Court sat in
Gisborne at Te Poho-o-Rawiri marae in mid 2008.
Other Marae Youth Monitoring Courts are proposed
for Manurewa and Hamilton.