Paula Bennett’s comment that some people have fewer human rights than others is deeply concerning and reflects the National Government’s backward approach to drugs, the Green Party said today. “National are proving once again that they are out of touch, out of date, and out of time to do anything that will actually help us to reduce violence and drug addiction,” said Green Party leader James Shaw. “Human rights are not something you can take away from people because it...

A new report highlighting the causes of the runaway growth in the prison population released today is further proof we need a cross-party consensus on justice issues, the Green Party said today. JustSpeak’s new report ‘Bailing out the Justice System’ shows that new laws introduced in 2013 reversed the longstanding decline in prison numbers and forced the Government to spend a billion dollars on a new prison. “This report makes clear that morally and economically, we can’t afford to keep...

Today’s report from the Waitangi Tribunal is a wake-up call about National’s failure to tackle Māori overrepresentation in the justice system, the Green Party said today. The Tribunal found the Department of Corrections in breach of the Treaty principles of equity and active protection because of an insufficient focus on Māori  reoffending, and has recommended urgent reforms. “What we are seeing is more evidence of a Government which is content with doing the bare minimum. Today’s findings from the Tribunal should...

Today’s report from the Waitangi Tribunal is a wake-up call about National’s failure to tackle Māori overrepresentation in the justice system, the Green Party said today. The Tribunal found the Department of Corrections in breach of the Treaty principles of equity and active protection because of an insufficient focus on Māori  reoffending, and has recommended urgent reforms. “What we are seeing is more evidence of a Government which is content with doing the bare minimum. Today’s findings from the Tribunal should...

Reports that Corrections management felt unable to censure Serco over fight clubs at Mt Eden Prison cast serious doubts over whether the Government can properly monitor privately run prisons, the Green Party said today. Reports this morning suggest that Corrections sat on a report into fight clubs at Mt Eden prison for a whole year, as the National Commissioner Jeremy Lightfoot did not think that Serco would make any necessary changes. Corrections was also warned in 2014 that fight clubs...

An increase in the number of unnatural deaths and self-harm incidents in prisons are further evidence of failings in our health and justice systems, and show the urgent need for a mental health enquiry, the Green Party said today. Corrections data for 2015/16 shows there were 11 unnatural deaths in custody, as many as the two previous years combined, and 26 self-harm threat-to-life incidents, six times as many as in 2014/15. Suicide is the most common form of unnatural deaths...

The Government’s Department of Corrections is performing abysmally and needs to be overhauled so that it stops costing tax-payers, prisoners and the wider community, the Green Party said today. “Finding out that hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been held in prison for longer than they should have been is the latest in a long list of failures for this disastrous department,” said Green Party Corrections spokesperson David Clendon.   “Minister Judith Collins needs to front up and explain how...

The Government should heed calls from child rights advocates and raise the age of youth justice to include 17 year olds, the Green Party said today. 34 community, academic and justice organisations today released a joint letter urging the Government to include 17 year olds in the youth justice system, days before New Zealand will appear before the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. “The evidence is clear: allowing 17 year olds to be tried...

The Government is toying with Kiwis’ right to a fair trial by underfunding legal aid services and shuttering offices across the county, the Green Party said today. The Ministry of Justice confirmed today that all but two of the country’s regional legal aid offices will be closed, following recent revelations that funding for legal aid has not kept up with demand. “Ensuring that everyone who needs it has high quality, compassionate legal aid should be a priority for any government,...

Today’s decision by the United States to end the use of private prisons should be a wake-up call for the National Government’s reliance on Serco, the Green Party said today. The United States Department of Justice announced this morning that it will begin phasing out the contracts of all federal private prison providers, ending a decades long policy of using for-profit prisons. “International evidence shows that private prisons are less safe for prisoners and staff, more prone to violent outbreaks...