Power Simon: Bail Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Power Simon: Bail Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:651;Page:483] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Bail Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 This bill is the first of a number of pieces of legislation in the justice portfolio that the new Government will bring to this House in its first 100 days in office. The overriding principle in taking these swift actions is the need to put public safety first. 
Unfortunately public safety was not always at the forefront of policy making in the last term of the Labour Government as the directive to reduce the prison population not only took priority but also often ran counter to the protection of the public. Last year’s changes to the then Bail Act were one example of this. As part of the Labour Government’s legislation to “arrest the sharp increase in the prison population” it increased the threshold for remand in custody from a risk that the defendant may abscond interfere with witnesses or evidence or offend on bail to a real and significant risk. This meant that even if a defendant had repeatedly breached his or her bail conditions in the past that defendant may not necessarily have been remanded in custody. To underscore this another provision was inserted that prevented the court from being able to remand a defendant in custody for breaching bail conditions unless this meant that the defendant was a real and significant risk. The New Zealand Law Society the Police Association the Police Prosecution Service and even a defence lawyer have all said that the 2007 changes effectively made it easier for people to get bail. 
The Bail Amendment Bill I have introduced today reverses those changes. Initial estimates from the Ministry of Justice suggest that changing the law will mean that another 50 to 100 prison beds will be filled. However the ministry has also signalled that this is likely to be an underestimate because repealing the 2007 amendments will send a clear signal to the judiciary that the threshold for bail has been raised. This group of accused represents the type of line calls on who is being granted bail under the previous Labour Government’s law when those people would previously have been remanded in custody. 
The Government recognises that a person charged with a crime has the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty and has the right not to be arbitrarily detained. Everyone charged with an offence also has the right to be released on reasonable terms and conditions unless there is just cause for continued detention. However those rights must be balanced against the safety of the New Zealand public. In his previous spell in Opposition the Hon Phil Goff proposed legislation that would have limited access to bail for repeat offenders. He argued: “At a certain point the safety of the community comes before the rights of alleged offenders.” In our view the previous risk test drew an appropriate balance between these competing considerations. Labour’s test raised the bar for remand in custody. The people who will have benefited from this amendment are not low risk. They are people who would previously have been remanded in custody. In those cases giving the benefit of the doubt to the public rather than the accused will come at a cost. However that is a price we are willing to pay to keep New Zealanders safe. 
I want to make it clear that the Government will be implementing further campaign pledges regarding the bail system. We will be reviewing the Bail Act in order to improve compliance with bail conditions. In particular we are concerned with the number of people failing to attend court. Between 1999-2000 and 2007-08 the number of defendants failing to answer bail increased by 155 percent. As at 30 September 2007 more than 18500 cases were put on hold due to outstanding warrants to arrest. This suggests that many of those on bail already treat the system with some degree of contempt and the pressure this puts on an already overloaded court system is unacceptable. 
We will also be progressing work to make sure that bail is not granted in return for information that a defendant provides regarding a criminal investigation. This measure aims to preclude further abuse of the bail system as occurred in January 2008 when a gang leader was released on bail after negotiating the return of stolen war medals. 
Under this Government public safety is the priority and will not be sacrificed. As part of our work programme on gangs and P we will also assess whether it is appropriate for people charged with drug offences to be eligible for electronically monitored bail in addition to home detention. The public of New Zealand deserve bail laws that put their safety first. This bill is the first of a number of measures that will restore public safety to its rightful place as the paramount consideration in justice policy and I commend it to the House.