Hon Christopher Finlayson
National Party Justice Spokesman
10 September 2014 Media Statement
National to continue driving down crime
A re-elected National government will build on its success in reducing crime, improving the accessibility of the justice
system and strengthening measures to prevent family violence.
“In government, National exceeded its earlier Better Public Services target of reducing crime to 15 per cent below
2011’s level three years ahead of schedule,” Justice Spokesman Christopher Finlayson says.
“We will keep up that momentum by working towards a revised goal of reducing crime to 20 per cent below 2011 levels by
2017.”
National will reduce historic delays in the court system.
“An important principle in any legal system is that justice delayed is justice denied,” Mr Finlayson says. “Because of
our success in reducing crime, we have an opportunity to reform the courts to provide better service to the public and
profession, and relieve the delays which built up under the previous government while crime soared.”
“National will develop a stronger response to family violence,” says Mr Finlayson.
One important aspect of that will be trialling an intensive case management service to provide specialist support for
family violence victims.
“Intensive case management is part of a package of reforms we will make to keep women and children safe from abusers. We
will also establish a nationwide home safety service to help victims who want to leave a violent relationship.”
“National believes in respect for the rule of law,” Mr Finlayson says.
“That means ensuring victims can trust the Courts and their decisions. We have already increased penalties for breaches
of protection orders. For offenders who continue to pose a high risk of violence in domestic situations, we will allow
the Courts to order GPS monitoring in order to keep victims safe.
“National will also establish a Chief Victims Advisor to the Minister of Justice,” says Mr Finlayson.
“We will increase funding for the Privacy Commissioner by $7 million. Modern technology creates new challenges to
individuals’ personal privacy and security in particular, and we will ensure the Privacy Commissioner is properly
resourced and able to meet these challenges.”
National’s Justice & Courts Policy is available at: http://ntnl.org.nz/1q4WeV9