Victim justice: a new partnership
Launch of New Zealand Restorative Justice Practice Manual
Speech by Minister of Corrections and Minister for Courts, Hon. Matt Robson
3rd March 2000
Introduction: A new partnership
Thank- you for inviting me here today. I am proud to be launching New Zealand's first Restorative Justice Practise
Manual in the first 100 days of the new government.
I understand that this manual will not only be used in our own pilot court projects across New Zealand, but also
overseas. And already you have been overwhelmed with request for copies of the manual.
New Zealand it seems is leading the field in this area.
I know that groups like Restorative Justice Trust who wrote the manual have pioneered these sorts of victim focused
processes over the years with very little resources.
Times have changed. You now have a new government who wants to work with you.
This is the beginning of a new partnership, between the community and a government committed to community involvement in
it's own safety.
I am here to support your work today and talk about what we do next.
The old system has failed
The old justice system has failed in three key areas: it has failed to make offenders fully accountable for their
actions: it has failed victims: and it has failed the community which is diminished every time a crime is committed.
Recidivism rate for ex-inmates is up to 80%. That is an appalling figure.
And yet for more than nine years we have had an administration which has increased sentences for more and more
offenders, cut rehabilitation programmes and education in the prisons, and done little to reduce re-offending.
Since 1990 violent crime is up by 90%.
The Crimes Amendment Act 1993 increased the maximum penalty for both rape and unlawful sexual connection from 14 years
to 20 years.
And yet conviction for violent sex offences including rape tripled in number between 1988 and 1996.
More violent offenders were sent to prison for longer periods, and yet the number of convictions in 1997 for both
robbery and aggravated robbery were the highest recorded in the decade in 1997.
What this tells me is that simply putting people in prison for longer periods is not reducing the re-offending rate.
The system to date has failed to make offenders fully and terribly aware of the consequences of their crime. That is the
key difference between the old techniques and the restorative justice approach.
Is it any wonder that 91% of New Zealanders voted yes in the justice referendum? People are in despair, and they are
afraid.
Whether you voted 'no' or 'yes' in the referendum, 100% of New Zealanders know that the system is not delivering.
Some people voted for a review of the justice system, and we are doing that.
Some voted for victim's needs to be better met. That is what today is about.
Some voted for 'hard labour'. In fact when I went to see Norm Withers shortly after the election, he told me that what
he meant by 'hard labour' was inmate employment.
I am in full support of employment schemes in prisons – in line with international labour regulations – that give prison
inmates work skills, and ever more important do everything possible to place inmates in real jobs when they leave
prison.
There seems to be a misconception out there that the only tough option is longer sentences. If only it were that easy.
A tough option
It isn’t news that prisons in our country have become universities of crime.
Whether an inmate returns to the community in five years of ten years is wasted time if our prisons don't return them
safer than when they went in.
The question is, how do we turn around offenders so that the likelihood of re-offending is minimal?
Putting an offender face to face with their victim, making them hear the anger and hurt that they have caused, is
perhaps the most devastating wake up call we can give an offender.
The justice system today keeps offenders far too removed from the consequences of their actions. They can serve years in
a prison and feel no remorse because at no point have they been confronted with the reality of the effects of their
crime.
Now we will be able to measure the success of New Zealand's first adult court pilot scheme, due to start on April 1st at
Waitekere District Court and see for ourselves the effects of making offenders finally, face the music.
The primary objectives of restorative justice mirror the primary concerns of the community:
- to attend fully to victim's need - material, financial, emotional and social, including those personally close the
victim who are affected.
- To prevent re-offending
- To make offenders take responsibility for the consequences of their crime
For the first time, victims will be directly involved in determining what should happen to make amends to them and the
community.
When a judge comes to pass sentence, victim reports will have far greater weight in a restorative justice court room
than they do at present.
Let us be absolutely clear: a restorative justice conference between victim and offender and support people is not an
alternative to a judges ruling.
A conference will only take place after an offender has pleaded guilty and before sentencing.
The country will be watching to see what comes of the Waitakere pilot scheme as it uses this manual to put restorative
justice principals into action.
You have six months and 50 cases to prove to New Zealanders that this really does work.
The future
Crime prevention is the clarion call of this government. That means supporting rehabilitation programmes in prison to
reduce re-offending as much as we humanly can.
It means working with young offenders and their families before they become hardened adult offenders.
It means creating jobs and putting life back into those key communities in New Zealand which have nearly died for lack
of development.
That is why the new government, under the guidance of the new minister of economic development and deputy prime minister
Jim Anderton, is prioritising regional development.
We are committed to creating sustainable jobs in communities that have been neglected for too long.
An extra $100 million will be made available for venture capital.
In the pipeline we have more pilot schemes to come, and we have the support of community groups and the Victims Support
Council in principal to progress with those proposals.
As many of you know there is a budget round coming up, and as Minister of Corrections and for Courts I will be pushing
for restorative justice initiatives where ever possible. Let's hope we can get more pilot court schemes up and running
soon.
I am also keen to build on other community successes like Project Turnaround in Timaru and Te Whanau Awhina in
Waitakere, Auckland.
Although these schemes primarily offer adult diversion options and are not strictly speaking restorative justice models,
they are magnificent examples of the community getting involved in making and keeping itself safe.
Most importantly Project Turnaround has succeeded in reducing the crime rate by 7% while the national crime rate
continued to rise.
"There are many other community initiatives like this in at least 11 other towns and cities. There is no doubt in my
mind the change is in the air.
Communities are no longer waiting for governments to get it right. They are seizing the initiative and making it happen
themselves.
That is what you people here today have done and I salute your courage. I also give you my support as a member of a new
government which also intends to be courageous.
ENDS