Pressure increases over restorative justice delays
The Ministry of Justice may soon face having to pay costs to offenders because of the continuing glitches in the Restorative Justice system, a judge has warned.
Judge David Saunders made his comment today on the second month of remands and delays, which is piling up expenses for people who are employing lawyers.
At least two cases called in the main list court today had been remanded so that restorative justice meetings could be held under the new legislation, but the meetings had not been arranged and the cases had to be remanded again.
Judge Saunders said his view was that neither case was suitable for a meeting, since one case involved an offender’s wife, and the other involved an offender’s mother, but the legislation gave him no discretion.
“The legislation didn’t think judges were ‘suitable people’ to make that decision,” he said, as he remanded one case for another attempt at sentencing in 12 days’ time.
The system would simply grind to a halt as the work piled up without the restorative justice conferences taking place because the organisations involved did not have the necessary capacity to handle the demand.
“It may well be that when costs start to be ordered against the Ministry of Justice people’s attention will be focussed on the problem.”
People are having to pay for repeated appearances by lawyers in cases that would have been dealt with at a single appearance a few months ago.
Judge Saunders asked whether there was anybody from the Restorative Justice organisation attending the court sitting, but there wasn’t.
“They haven’t got their $4.2 million funding yet to have somebody in court,” the judge said.
Cost applications would be considered under the Costs in Criminal Cases Act.
Judge Saunders said: “The system is going to get clogged up, but that’s what they wanted and that’s what they are going to get. It is simply going to have a massive backlash in due course.”
In a later case, Judge Saunders noted what appeared to be a coincidence of name. He asked whether the owner of a property damaged in an arson was the Minister of Justice Amy Adams. “She might find herself going off to a restorative justice conference,” he said.
Category: Focus
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