June 15 2019 INL_Digital_Edition

02
JUNE 15, 2019
Homelink
Report slams Criminal Justice System as ‘racist’
Ben Strang
Racism is embedded in every area of
the criminal justice system, according
to a Report released by the Safe and
Effective Justice Advisory Group.
The Report is also critical of how victims
are treated within the system, saying people
have a lack of faith in it, which suggests it is
not fit for purpose.
The Advisory Group has been around the
country in the past few months, tasked with
finding out what is and is not working in the
criminal justice system.
(Former Minister of Courts) Chester Borrows
is leading the Advisory Group, and said
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the Report should not come as a surprise.
He said that there were serious issues in
New Zealand’s criminal justice system, and
the Advisory Group was now preparing a
number of recommendations that would be
submitted to the Justice Minister in August.
Victims disappointed
Mr Borrows said that victims were
particularly disappointed with the criminal
justice system.
“For crimes against a person - especially
sexual crimes and crimes of indecency - most
complainants know it’s very, very difficult.
These sorts of crimes often happen when
there’s nobody else around, so it’s often one
word against another. The manner of getting
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Chester Borrows said some victims found the criminal
justice system as traumatic as the crime they had suffered
(RNZ Photo)
clinical, independent forensic evidence certainly
is not pleasant, if not downright disgusting to
people,” he said.
“Then there’s the interrogation, and the accusations
that are made through the interview
processes, or through the court processes,
and people who do go through the process of
a prosecution say they’d never do that again.
They feel just as damaged by the process as they
did by the offending.”
The Report states victims have a lack of faith
in the system, which undermines its integrity
and suggests it is not fit for purpose.
Māori ‘treated much worse’
The Report also looks at the over-representation
of Māori in the criminal justice system,
describing it as a crisis.
It states “the effects of colonisation undermine,
disenfranchise and conspire to trap
Maori in the criminal justice system” and that
“racism is embedded in every part of it.”
Mr Borrows said that was an inarguable fact.
“Most people outside, with no knowledge of
the criminal justice system and how it works in
our country, would say there’s one law for all
and everyone gets treated the same.
“Well, Māori would say, ‘Bring on the day
when it’s one law for all’ because currently as
it sits, Māori are treated much worse in every
aspect of criminal justice than any other race,
particularly Pākehā.”
The Report states Māori feel astrong sense
of disengagement from the system, one they
would not have agreed to when the Treaty of
Waitangi was signed.
Māori are eager to be part of the reform
process, and would like to use more Māori
principles incorporated.
Bias against sexual complainants
Mr Borrows said that the treatment of family
and sexual violence complainants was terrible.
“We have still got a lot of ridiculous bias
out there in relation to sexual complainants. I
mean that we have got lawyers standing up in
court making ridiculous accusations against
complainants because when a woman got up
in the morning, she put on a bra and knickers
that matched. “And [they] suggested to the jury,
that she intended having sex with someone at
the end of the day.
“You know, this is the 21st Century in God’s
own country, and it’s just rubbish to think that
those sorts of statements are allowed to be
made.”
The Safe and Effective Justice Advisory
Group will provide a further Report to the
Justice Minister in August, which will detail a
number of recommendations for the justice
system.
Ben Strang is a Reporter at Radio New
Zealand. The above Report and Picture have
been published under a Special Arrangement
with www.rnz.co.nz
Read our Leader, ‘Coloured Vision does no
good to justice system’ on Page 12.
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi
National List MPbasedd in
Manukau East
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