Faafoi Kris: Courts and Criminal Matters Bill — In Committee 
Faafoi Kris: Courts and Criminal Matters Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:673;Page:19778] 
KRIS FAAFOI (Labour—Mana) 
: 
 Taloha ni. I understand that Part 1 of the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill amends the District Courts Act 1947. The substantial provisions in this part basically change the way that attachment orders for the collection of fines from salaries and benefits can be processed by the courts. My understanding of the current situation is that it needs both the creditor and the debtor to have an assessment as to whether the debtor can pay the fine but the substantial provision in this part changes that so that the creditor can ask for an assessment to be done by the court as to whether the debtor is able to pay that fine. As many speakers on this side have said before we support Part 1 because it will streamline the process for those who are expecting some money especially those in the civil debt arena to know whether they can be paid. 
Part 1 will also address the huge problem that we have with unpaid fines. It is a big problem. I believe that in the year July 2008 to June 2009 there was around $800 million of unpaid fines and the Ministry of Justice had to write off around $90 million of that. So Part 1 will hopefully go some way to addressing that problem by streamlining the process and by making sure that those who have transgressed and have been asked to pay a fine will fulfil their obligations as asked by the court as soon as they possibly can. If they are not able to pay their fine then that will be assessed and we will know soon enough so there is not the level of frustration for those who are owed money. I guess that would be a very frustrating position to be in if one was expecting some money from an individual or organisation that had been fined for a transgression but then had to go through this process which could be strung out because previously both parties had to be present at a hearing to get an attachment order. Part 1 will now streamline that process to make sure that a proper assessment is done of a fined person’s ability to pay that fine. 
Although Labour supports this part of the bill there are some omissions that my colleague Jacinda Ardern alluded to earlier that we thought could have been included in Part 1. One of those omissions was a single agency to be responsible for the collection of fines. We understand that at the moment there are 80-plus issuing authorities for fines. With unpaid fines being in the region of $800 million over the 1-year period I mentioned if we had one unitary body that was responsible for fines then we might do a better job of collecting most of those unpaid fines. As I said 80-plus issuing authorities have responsibility for fines. Although Labour supports Part 1 we believe that it could have gone a little bit further in terms of making sure there was a much more streamlined process for the collection of those fines. 
As Jacinda Ardern also alluded to earlier in this debate there is a problem with young people in terms of the level of fines that they are starting to receive where it becomes impossible for them to begin addressing it. That level is around $2000 and we can imagine how difficult it is at the moment for these young people to do the basics like pay their rent pay the bills or even get a job. We can imagine how difficult it would be to be stung with fines in the region of $2000. It would be a mountain to climb to pay off that debt. I am pretty sure that any of those young people who face that kind of debt from the courts would like a much more streamlined process or at least to have some way of their being assessed as to whether they could pay it. If we are talking about a level of $2000 for young ones at the moment I think most of them would struggle to pay off that debt. 
I think this bill goes a long way to making sure that there is a process there for them. If they owe money to the courts there is now a much more streamlined process so that that process is not strung out for them. It is not a burden that has to be carried by them for a long period of time. Thank you.