Leading from the front issuu

PAT DRILLS A LITTLE DEEPER
WITH SIR KIM WORKMAN
Do we have to wait for Aotearoa’s history to be
taught properly in schools before our Justice
System takes the Roper Report recommendations
seriously or is influenced by similar enlightened
and effective strategies?
While a better understanding of our colonial history
will contribute to a more tolerant and enlightened community,
that will in and of itself, be insufficient to bring
about transformational change. Government agencies
have a rangatiratanga of their own, and are reluctant to
either surrender or share power and authority. I was in
the Department of Justice at the time Te Ara Hou was
published, and it was clear from the outset that justice
officials opposed the recommendations, and over the
next few years, ensured that prisons continued to be run
along traditional lines. Let’s not forget that those who
join the justice system have attitudes toward crime and
punishment issues that are shaped early in their lives by
their social identity and values. In order for our thinking
to make the shift, it requires us to undertake a shift in our
personal values and attitudes.
From my “office” on the street in Maraenui I am
heartened by Children’s Commissioner Andrew
Becroft lobbying for the thorough transformation
of Oranga Tamariki for Whanau and Rangitahi
to look after their own Rangitahi and Tamariki.
Do you agree that Barristers remaining as Solicitors
and focusing mainly on Pakeha issues will
help with the transformation?
Not necessarily. Like it or not, we are stuck with an adversarial
Justice system, which relies on a complex system
of legislation, precedents and principles. There are
increasing numbers of lawyers who understand family
harm and cultural issues, and are able to stand alongside
their clients as powerful advocates.
What else do you think could assist with the
transformation of Oranga Tamariki?
Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft’s advice is
‘Start again — build a new system from the bottom up’.
I agree.
I visit the Napier Courthouse every Wednesday
and see the misery caused when Rangitahi
are caught up in the system. As of now
barristers, police, reporters, court guards and
admin staff are living off the minor offending of
mostly young Māori. Do you have faith that this
system can be transformed, given how many
stakeholders are invested in it? And when is
it reasonable to expect to see transformation?
In 2007, the then Principal Youth Court Judge, Andrew
Becroft, delivered a speech entitled, ‘Time to
teach the Old Dog New Tricks’ He argued that there
was much the Youth Court could “teach” the adult
courts and that the revolution associated with the introduction
of the Children, Young Persons and their
Families Act in 1989 could be replicated in the adult
courts. Since then, we have seen the introduction
of Rangatahi Courts, Pae Oranga (Iwi Community
Panels), pre-sentence Restorative Justice panels,
and increased police diversion. But these changes
are marginal to the system, and while they have improved
the system, they fall well short of transformation.
That will require the kind of political appetite
for change, that foresaw the revolution of the youth
justice system.
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Restorative Justice – for an unjust justice system