Courts changes a small step in the right direction – Dunne

UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne says the Justice Minister’s hasty amendments to the Courts (Remote Participation) Bill are a small step in the right direction, but they do not entirely alleviate his concerns.

Mr Dunne opposed the Bill’s Second Reading because he believed defendants should be required to be present in Court, and he feared the move to audio visual links (AVL) would lead to defendants being absent from a Courtroom more often than not.

He felt it would lead to trials with absent defendants becoming the norm, to the disadvantage of the defendant, and contrary to the public interest.

“Mr Power’s last-minute amendments go some way to addressing that concern, and expose his officials’ previous arguments that AVL was needed to make courtrooms safer as a sham, but still do not deal with the issue in its entirety,” said Mr Dunne.

“The law is potentially still too open-minded, with the onus now on the defendant to decide how they wish to be tried, rather than the public interest.”

“That at least shifts the presumption away from trials being held by AVL, unless a judicial officer in a particular case decides otherwise, but still leaves open the possibility of defendants, especially wealthy ones, to be able to time the nature of their Court appearances to suit themselves.”

“Nevertheless, I give the Minister credit for recognising the major concern about the Bill and moving to amend it. I will not oppose its final reading, my continued misgivings notwithstanding,” said Mr Dunne.

ENDS

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