Nash Stuart: Victims of Crime Reform Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Nash Stuart: Victims of Crime Reform Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 04 October 2011. Volume:676;Page:21691. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 As has been mentioned Labour will support the Victims of Crime Reform Bill to the Justice and Electoral Committee because we think it is very important that every New Zealander has the right to present a submission in front of parliamentarians and because that is way that good law is made. 
We just heard an incredible speech from Amy Adams. She said that when it comes to victims’ rights versus offenders’ rights then it is victims’ rights the whole time. Well my personal view is that we must protect the rights of every New Zealander. Of course victims’ rights are paramount and that is why this bill is before the House and it is why we are supporting it. Having said that the rights of every New Zealander—no matter where they are who they are or what they are—are very very important. For me and I think for most New Zealanders we cannot say that one person’s rights are more important than another person’s rights. Amy Adams who is actually a lawyer said that one group of people’s rights are more important than another group of people’s rights. Personally I find that quite offensive because for me the rights of every single New Zealander are important. 
When we are talking about victims’ rights we are talking about law relating to crime which is where I think it becomes very very emotional. That is why we end up with groups like the Sensible Sentencing Trust. We all want sensible sentencing—of that there is no doubt. But I do not think there are many people who say we should be locking people up throwing away the keys and letting them rot. I think most people agree that incarceration should also be about rehabilitation so that people can come out and become productive members of society. 
As mentioned the rights of every New Zealander are most important. It is interesting that it took until 2002 for the Victims’ Rights Bill to actually be introduced by the Labour Government of course. Ms Adams may be interested to know that under the Labour Government the Justice and Electoral Committee conducted an inquiry into victims’ rights in 2007 which highlighted some of the issues that have finally been addressed by this bill. I suggest to Ms Adams that if she was so passionate about victims’ rights then perhaps it should not have been left till the final week of the final year of this term of Parliament for her to get passionate about that. Perhaps Ms Adams should have been passionate about that in the first week of the first year. But it is good to see passion—of that there is no doubt. 
Of course everyone in this House stands up for those who are victims of crime. As the old saying goes “There is no such thing as a victimless crime.” Although we are hard on crime—and we are hard on crime because the people of New Zealand demand that we are hard on crime—we also must create a society and a system that makes it very easy for victims to access absolutely everything that is possibly available to help them through what is often a very traumatic time not only having been a victim of crime but also then having to relive this through the whole court process. I bet that can be quite traumatic for a lot of people. 
There is something called the New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey. It estimated the level of unreported and reported crime experienced by New Zealanders over the age of 15. This was undertaken in 2008. Some of its key findings are interesting: 36 percent of people experienced some form of victimisation; assaults made up 27 percent of all offences and threats made up just over 21 percent; 33 percent of all offences were reported to police reporting rates varied by type; and 6 percent of victims experience 54 percent of victimisations. The thing I suppose that is rather damning is that 33 percent of all offences were reported to police. That means that about 67 percent of offences were not reported to police. There may be a number of reasons for this but one thing we must make absolutely certain is that if victims are reporting crimes to police then as mentioned we need to make it very easy for those victims to access everything that is available and to work through the court system. 
The Victims’ Rights Act 2002 outlines the principles that guide the treatment of victims. The provisions of the Act are consistent with the current criminal justice system laws and processes and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Under the Victims’ Rights Act victims are to be provided with certain information about the services they are eligible for and about the progress of their case through the courts. Victims are also able to provide the courts with information on the impact of the offences on them. We see a lot of this and often this provides the dramatic footage we see on television about cases where usually the families of victims speak out and outline to the court to the people and also to the perpetrator of that crime what damage this has done not only to the victim but to the victim’s family friends and society in general. However in regard to victims of certain interpersonal offences the Act also ensures that victims are entitled to receive notification of certain events particularly custody and parole matters relating to the accused or the offender. As mentioned is it not interesting that it took until 2002 under Labour to get the Victims’ Rights Act? 
However what needs to happen and the reason for this bill is the improvement of the role of victims in the criminal justice system. For the purposes of the review that was undertaken by the Ministry of Justice the ministry identified the problems and issues and the potential solutions using information from a wide range of sources. So this bill is a consequence of a lot of consultation within the community and right across the country. 
The aim of this bill is to improve Government agencies’ responsiveness and accountability to victims of crime and to enhance the rights and role of victims of crime in the criminal justice process. What this will do is increase victims’ engagement in the court process ensure some court processes more directly address the needs of victims enable victims to be better informed about the progress of the offender’s sentence and ensure that those agencies that provide services to victims are more accountable to victims for the delivery of those services. 
The Law Society has expressed reservations about some of the initiatives presented by the Government in this bill particularly expanding the role of victims in the courtroom which might move the courts away from a dispassionate dispensing of justice. This is one of the reasons why we will be very clearly watching the select committee process. We are interested to see what the Law Society and other organisations involved in justice delivery have to say about this. We will pay very close attention to submissions to the select committee to ensure that both victims’ rights and the rights of the accused are balanced to achieve an appropriate and a fair outcome. 
The fundamental principle of our legal system is that one is innocent until proven guilty so everyone must have a fair trial. However the Law Society supports moves in the legislation to give adult victims the right to read their statements in court. But subjecting children as Carol Beaumont mentioned to further court processes might not be a particularly positive advancement of children’s rights. Furthermore the use of pictures can be misleading. 
The Ministry of Justice as mentioned has identified three broad concerns that face victims of crime. Victims find it frustrating to deal with multiple agencies and I can imagine that. Taxpayers find it frustrating sometimes dealing with multiple agencies. When one has to relive this trauma again and again it can be not only frustrating but damning and degrading. The mechanisms for making criminal justice agencies accountable for the information they provide or the services they deliver to victims are weak. As has been mentioned we often talk about the perpetrators of these crimes and we often forget about the victims. Often the victims are not only the person who has had a crime perpetrated on him or her; often it is the also the children the family or the wider community friends etc. So the victims of crimes can be wide and varied. Many victims find the current criminal justice processes to be bewildering and feel that they do not have a role in criminal cases involving them. 
That is about all I have to say on this bill. As mentioned we will be supporting its referral to the select committee. We look forward to hearing submissions on it.