Barker Rick: Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill — In Committee 
Barker Rick: Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:676;Page:21599] 
Hon RICK BARKER (Labour) 
: 
 I want to follow the Hon John Boscawen on a point that is related to the theme made by the Minister of Justice and it is about negotiation. I think it is a credit to this Parliament and a credit to MMP which people should acknowledge that we have negotiations on this sort of legislation. The Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill will go through the House it will be confirmed but no one will make the connection between the style of Parliament we have and the outcome. But I think it is really important to make that connection. 
In the past we had first past the post the leading party would have made the decision and it would simply have been imposed upon the Parliament. What we have now is negotiation and discussion and we reach an agreement. I think we should celebrate that. If the Greens are unhappy about the decision at the end of it at least they have been part of a negotiation and a discussion. I think this is of great credit and I think we should mark that. 
I want to endorse the comments made by John Boscawen. I am not sure I will always agree with everything the man says but it is fabulous that we have this discussion. I do not think the public see this aspect of this Parliament very often. It happens very often but this is a clear demonstration of how it has happened and I commend the Minister for the way in which he has conducted those negotiations. It takes a leadership position to say: “I am willing to negotiate.” rather than: “I say and you will follow.” I think the Minister has taken a very good leadership role on this and I hope he sets this as a model for other Ministers to continue. I hope that will be the legacy he leaves—that this is the style by which we do things and the style by which we arrive at decisions. Of course not everybody will agree; we are human beings. But at the end we have a decision that is strong and robust and has been well debated. 
I want to come to a minor point now that we have dealt with all the higher things. I am really interested to see that the Justice and Electoral Committee has done some very good work—and the bill does some very good work—on community magistrates. One of the things that the Law Commission in its report  
Delivering Justice for All: A Vision for New Zealand Courts and Tribunals 
 recommended at one stage was that the District Court be split into two. One court would deal with minor offences and the District Court would deal with the bigger offences that the District Court deals with in its jurisdiction. In actual fact we would have tribunals a lower court the District Court the High Court the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court. We would have a multilayer of courts. I always thought this was a bit extravagant for a country of 4 million people. 
I think that the evolution of JPs and community magistrates dealing with minor matters is a good thing. It means that we keep the single jurisdiction of the District Court. The District Court after all is the court that deals with most of the volume of our court work. It is the real workhorse of it. The District Court has the most courts. It is where we have the most judges. Its lists are longer and the number of cases it deals with is much larger than in any other court and that is as it should be. But being able to have community magistrates and JPs dealing with some of the machinery of the District Court is I think a really good innovation. It will help to speed up the process of justice and ensure that people get through this. I am very pleased to see that the jurisdiction and the powers of community magistrates and JPs have been extended enhanced and strengthened. I think this is a very good innovation. 
I could go on about this legislation. There is a lot of very good work in it about upcoming potential epidemics about getting rid of boroughs and about changing all the structures. This is a vast piece of legislation that covers a myriad of issues and I think the select committee and the people who have done the work on this bill have done a fabulous job. I feel it will take quite some years before people feel the full effect of the benefit of this legislation. It is long overdue and well done.