Bennett David: Judicature Modernisation Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett David: Judicature Modernisation Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 18 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1744. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East): It gives me great pleasure to rise in regard to the second reading of the Judicature Modernisation Bill. I would like to thank Phil Goff for his most passionate speech in regard to this bill. I do not know how anyone could get up there and shout over a bill of this length but he managed to do it and go totally offline but that is all part of it.Stuart Nash: Enthusiasm.DAVID BENNETT: Enthusiasm. That is what we like to see from the Labour Party.This is a very substantial bill. All members of Parliament have referred to its scope and size and the impact it will have and it does not give it justice to do a 10-minute speech on it really. Even members of this Parliament will not be able to do that. So to cut it down to something that is probably more interesting than going through the whole bill—as everybody would like no doubt for us to do—it is important as members have focused on our judicature system and especially on our court system and the ability for New Zealanders to have good representation to have fair representation to actually have a system that is fair and open and the ability to have faith in the rule of law in our country. That is a defining thing that makes our country one of the great countries of the world and one where we can have a Parliament like this which is successful and enables people to share their views in an open and constructive way. It enables us to have a system where if people feel there are disputes and they feel that they have not been treated properly they have a fair and open process that they can go through to rectify that situation. It enables New Zealanders to have comfort that if they ever do get in a position where they are on the wrong side of the law they will actually have a genuine open and independent process that will enable them to have the full rights that you would expect in such situations.We need to contrast that with many other countries around the world that do not have such open and fair systems. I think New Zealanders are very proud of what this system enables us to do as a country. But at the same time a failure to have a strong judiciary a failure to have a strong police force a failure to have an independent judiciary and a failure to have an independent police force can lead to corruption. It can lead to the inability of a country to grow and prosper and ultimately it can dictate that there is less democracy in the actual country. That is something that all people in the world regardless of their State want: a fair deal and the right to be heard and to make their views known.This bill as members have said is divided into a number of parts and those parts cover off some of the major parts of our legal system. Although it is a substantial bill in size and scope at this stage it actually is a reflection of many bills and many parts of our legal system that in themselves are quite substantial anyway.To look at some of the main parts of the bill Part 1 has regard to the senior courts. It replaces the Supreme Court Act and the Judicature Act. It improves the transparency and flexibility of senior courts and provides for the establishment of a panel of judges. That is Part 1 which relates to senior courts.Part 2 relates to the District Court. It constitutes District Courts as a unitary court rather than the many separate District Courts that we have now throughout New Zealand. That is similarly done with the Family Court the Youth Court and the disputes tribunal. Effectively when you go to one court it could be the District Court in Te Awamutu or the District Court in Whakatāne. It is all part of the District Court rather than each individual court. That is something that I think New Zealanders would probably have assumed already but now actually see in reality.Part 3 looks at the judicial review procedure. That sets up a stand-alone statute that continues the process and procedure for judicial review applications. Many people will be aware that judicial review is one of the back-up abilities of constituents in a case where they feel the justice system has let them down. Judicial review is often used as a form of perhaps opening the ambit of what the justice system may have considered in order to enable those involved in those cases to be fully reflected in their judgment.Part 4 is on the interest on money claims. That was covered off very nicely by Jono Naylor in his speech. He went through that and discussed the importance of it and the interest that would be charged in such situations.Part 5 is on electronic courts and tribunals. That is part of the growth you are seeing in the technology that will be used in any Government department but our courts system especially needs to make sure that it has the best technology and the ability to use that technology. In question time today we heard how that can assist in the process of ensuring fairness of trial but also can assist in ensuring the saving of money through the system.Part 6 “Amendments to other enactments” covers off a variety of court-related changes to existing Acts.The legislation has a series of parts to it and to do it justice is really quite difficult in this situation. But the context of it for all New Zealanders to understand is really that we have an excellent legal system in this country. It underpins our ability to have democracy. It underpins our ability to be treated with fairness and equity should something go wrong or in time of dispute with another person or corporate. The strength of that legal system is built upon rules that have been developed over many years and those rules will continue to develop. They will require and dictate that you will have large pieces of legislation like this. But this legislation will be broken down into those series of parts which are essentially laws that you will find around each of those areas such as the senior courts the District Courts the judicial review procedure interest on money claims and electronic tribunals. Effectively we are dealing with something that is really a summary and also a proactive attempt to devise the best judicial system that we can in our country.It is very pleasing to see that the parties in this House especially the Labour Party and the Green Party are supportive of this bill. It is one of those pieces of legislation that all New Zealanders can be proud of in the sense that the parties of this Parliament come together and see its practical implications. It is not a policy issue; it is something that makes a better difference practically to the way that our systems are run and therefore is something that would encourage people to have faith in our judiciary and our legal system.This is a strong bill. It is a substantial bill as well. It will achieve its purpose. We appreciate the support that other political parties have given in this House. I think as mentioned before a thankyou needs to go out to all those involved in writing the legislation and to the officials who have been involved for their great work on this. Thank you.