te Heuheu Georgina: Standing Orders—Suspension 
te Heuheu Georgina: Standing Orders—Suspension 
[Volume:673;Page:19653] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (Minister for Courts) 
: 
 I move  
That Standing Order 299(1) be suspended to authorise the Committee of the whole House on the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill to consider and if it thinks fit adopt the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 202 as amended by Supplementary Order Paper 244 to the following Acts that were not included in the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill as introduced—the Crimes Act 1961 the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 the Disputes Tribunals Act 1988 the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 1978 and the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 
.  
The Courts and Criminal Matters Bill strengthens the processes for the enforcement of fines including reparation and the recovery of civil debt. Supplementary Order Paper 202 as amended by Supplementary Order Paper 244 refines and extends these reforms. The amendments to the six additional Acts listed in this motion form a small but important component of this legislation. The Courts and Criminal Matters Bill establishes a consistent definition of “fine” that covers any amount of money that a person is required to pay under a sentence or order of a court. The term will include all court-imposed fines reparation payments and associated court costs and the new offender levy.  
The bill also establishes a consistent order of priority for allocating the sale proceeds of seized property towards outstanding fines. The first priority will be to reparation. Currently five different Acts apply to the enforcement of fines. This makes the applicable law difficult to locate and understand and has allowed inconsistencies to develop and be perpetuated over time. In the late stages of drafting the bill parliamentary counsel highlighted inconsistencies between provisions in the various Acts most notably between the Crimes Act the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act and the Summary Proceedings Act 1957. However it was not possible to complete the necessary policy development including consulting the judiciary the Law Commission and other Government departments and to draft the necessary amendments before the bill concluded its select committee examination. If adopted these amendments will largely align the High Court fines enforcement powers and processes with those of the District Courts. Among other benefits this will free up judicial time by allowing court registrars to undertake some of the more administrative fines enforcement functions.  
Following the introduction of the bill it was also realised that the Misuse of Drugs Act’s cross-references to the vehicle confiscation provisions in the Sentencing Act were out of date and that additionally there were inconsistencies between the forfeiture regimes in the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act. The additional amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act will align the two forfeiture regimes. The amendments will also align the allocation of sale proceeds from forfeited items under both Acts with the approach for seized property and confiscated vehicles in the bill. In particular the amendments will enable payment under sentences and orders of reparation as well as offender levies out of the sale proceeds of forfeited property.  
Part 1 of the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill amends the District Courts Act 1947 to among other things facilitate attachment orders which are mandatory deductions from wages or benefits to resolve a judgment debt. I propose these amendments be extended to allow disputes tribunal referees and Tenancy Tribunal adjudicators to record details of attachment orders in their orders where the parties to the proceedings are present and agree to this course of action. This proposal requires amendments to the Disputes Tribunals Act and the Residential Tenancies Act. These amendments will complement the amendments to the District Courts Act and will benefit judgment debtors and judgment creditors alike.  
In conclusion all parliamentary parties have been consulted on these additional amendments and I thank all parties for their willingness to engage on these proposals. Unfortunately the Green Party has not been able to support my request for leave to introduce the amendments to the six additional Acts. It is because the amendments to the additional Acts are so closely linked—indeed are vital—to the objectives of the current bill that I make my present request. 
The principal amendments are set out on Supplementary Order Paper 202 which I publicly released on 14 February 2011. They are consistent with the scope of the bill and although it is not a formal requirement the Crown Law Office has advised the Ministry of Justice that the amendments are consistent with the requirements of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. I have moved that Standing Order 299(1) be suspended to authorise the Committee of the whole House on the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill to consider and if it thinks fit adopt the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 202 as amended by Supplementary Order Paper 244 to the following Acts that were not included in the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill as introduced—the Crimes Act 1961 the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 the Disputes Tribunals Act 1988 the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 1978 and the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.