NZ: Editorial: Commission too keen on secrecy
NZ News
Editorial: Commission too keen on secrecy
18.03.2004
Justice, it is said, should be open. If a court chooses to conceal matters from the public gaze, that should be the exception, not the rule. The precept, unfortunately, has too often been ignored in this country. A penchant for secrecy is no better illustrated than in the almost willy-nilly granting of name suppression. A Law Commission report seeking to remedy the court system's failings should have had a remedy for this propensity high on its list of recommendations. Astoundingly, however, that report, "Delivering Justice for All", seeks to perpetuate and extend it.
In the first instance, the Law Commission wants name suppression automatically extended to all victims. They would give evidence in court from behind a screen to protect their identity. In some cases, most obviously those involving sexual abuse, there is a clear need for such protection. But in the vast majority, it is unwarranted. Indeed, to recommend it is to suggest the court system somehow vilifies victims. Clearly, that is not so.
Worse still, the commission wants automatic name suppression for alleged offenders until their case is heard. The justice system, however, is predicated on a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. That is understood by all, and is a sufficient safeguard. The commission's proposal could not, in fact, be applied fairly. It wants suppression to apply once a person has been charged, thereby allowing police to alert the public to the identity of a person suspected of a crime. That person would, of course, be denied the anonymity granted to other alleged offenders.
Consistency is, indeed, not the report's strong point. Commendably, if somewhat perversely, it also recommends that the Family Court and the Youth Court operate more openly. It suggests the media should be able to attend both, and should be free to report proceedings, as long as identifying details in all cases involving children or domestic violence are not published.
Perceptively, the report notes that restrictions on reporting have led to accusations of secrecy, particularly against the "intimate and emotionally charged" Family Court. Fathers' groups have long accused judges in that court of bias in child custody cases. The lack of a media presence has meant, in sum, that the judges have never been subjected to public scrutiny, or accountability.
The Law Commission's most throughgoing proposal involves a radical reshaping of the court structure. A new community court would hear most criminal offences as one of nine primary courts replacing the district court, which would no longer exist. There is no doubt that the district court's caseload is far greater than envisaged when it was set up in 1980. It, and the overall system, operate slowly and inefficiently - at times like cattleyards, as one public submission put it.
The commission's solution, however, is not fully appropriate. A system incorporating nine primary courts would be ponderous, and expensive to establish and operate. Already, it has caused the Minister of Justice to blanch, and talk of a better cost-benefit analysis.
A more appropriate structure would see the primary courts split into three divisions - civil, criminal and family. The likes of the Employment Court and the Environment Court would be part of the civil division, and the Youth Court would be in the family division, except where recidivist criminal offending was involved. This structure has the cardinal advantage of being less expensive - and would, therefore, stand a greater chance of being adopted by the Government.
Many Law Commission reports have gathered nothing more than dust on ministerial bookshelves. The recommendations in this offering that would cultivate a closed justice system invite just that fate. Nonetheless, it is clear the system is riddled with operational shortcomings. And that a Government response must not be long in coming.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3555315&thesection=news&thesubsection=general
END
|
