Dean Jacqui: Judicature Modernisation Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDean Jacqui: Judicature Modernisation Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 18 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1729. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki): I want to commence my contribution to the second reading of the Judicature Modernisation Bill by congratulating the former Justice and Electoral Committee chaired very ably by Scott Simpson on producing what is by any measure a weighty tome. I have promised to share it around my colleagues because it is quite a big document and there is often a cry across the House of: “Have you read the bill?”. Hand on heart in the time that I have had today I have not had time to read this bill. However I hope I do have enough of an insight into and understanding of the issues it has canvassed through its passage through the select committee to begin to make a contribution.The first comment I would like to make is that one of the overarching principles of the Judicature Modernisation Bill is to make access to the court system and to justice more streamlined and more in line with what is increasingly becoming common practice in the Public Service but also amongst the judiciary and the law fraternity. If one were to go into any law office around New Zealand there would be a flat screen set up in the library with the ability to do videoconferencing so that the legal profession can have good dialogue with their clients or with other counsel which would have the great benefit of their clients not having to travel at some expense and time to be connected.It is interesting that our court system remains the one last bastion of the paper-based system. I also acknowledge that there is a lot of tradition around that. The sight of a judge stamping things on the bench is something that they probably enjoy. It is part of the chatter of the courtroom and has been so for a hundred and however many years that we have had court sittings in New Zealand—I have failed; I should have known that off by heart. It is a proud tradition and one that is upheld by those who work in the court—the court registrars the bench of course and also by judges in New Zealand.However time has moved on and we now have for example a police service that has made the transition from waiting behind the desk in its little outpost in the suburb waiting for trouble to come to it. The police have got out from behind that desk and they are now out in the community armed with an iPhone and a laptop and an attitude that says: “We will get out in front of trouble.” That is called Prevention First in terms of the police. That is what we are moving through the officers of this bill with the judiciary. So the focus is going away from a paper-based system beloved by many into a more modern approach that ensures a more streamlined process through the court system for all those involved. But it also has the added benefit of cutting down on cost.If I perhaps think about my own patch—perhaps in Alexandra where there is a court—if someone were to be called to the court on a court sitting day for perhaps a traffic offence or some charge like assault or it could be anything and that person happens to live 100 kilometres away it is a lot of time and it is a lot of expense for somebody to go for perhaps a 5-minute court sitting that might even be adjourned. They have taken the day off work if they are in work and they have paid for a round trip plus lunch. Gosh! For 100 kilometres you are looking at $40 or $50 to do that.I would like to think we are moving to a system—and we are well on the way; I have seen it already in some courts throughout New Zealand—where appearances can be made via videoconferencing. And just as that is a quantum leap forward so it is for prisoners in custody and perhaps on remand where there are a number of brief but necessary court appearances to be made. Due to some of the legislative changes that this Government has brought through we have tightened up laws around strip-searching in order to keep prisons a safer place for everybody involved in prisons. We now have a very clear regime of strip-searching. So whenever a remand prisoner was called from Milton prison or any other prison around New Zealand to go to court for a 5-minute court sitting that involved a whole day. It involved a strip-search on coming back into the facility. There would be a lengthy drive in a van with an escort and there would be police at the court. And then the trip would be reversed on the way back.That is expensive and it is time-consuming. There is danger there that contraband or weapons or drugs can be reintroduced into the prison environment notwithstanding the strengthened regime of strip-searching. So the modernisation—and I have just touched on one aspect of it here—of the court system embodied in this Judicature Modernisation Bill is bringing benefits not only to the public at large but also to those who work within the court system and the prison system and to those who come into touch with the reality of interface with the court system. Fundamentally this bill implements reforms that are in response to the Law Commission’s report Review of the Judicature Act 1908: Towards a New Courts Act. It is a pretty old Act so it is well overdue.I started my contribution by acknowledging the work of the select committee and I want to do that again because I understand that the Justice and Electoral Committee considered this bill for months. As you can see with the bill that sits before us today it was a big piece of work covering many aspects. In the due course of this bill going through the House the bill will be divided at the Committee stage which is still to come so that Part 1 becomes the Senior Courts Bill Part 2 becomes the District Court Bill Part 3 the Judicial Review Procedure Bill Part 4 the Interest on Money Claims Bill Part 5 the Electronic Courts and Tribunals Bill and Part 6 goes into 17 separate bills as a result of amendments to their own respective Acts.On top of that there are three statutes to be repealed as a result of this work and they are the Supreme Court Act of 2003the Judicature Act of 1908 and the Unconsolidated Judicature Amendment Act. I hope David Parker is speaking because he can probably make more sense of some of these pieces of legislation but none the less—Simon O’Connor: Are you saying he was around in 1908?JACQUI DEAN: No David Parker was not around in 1908. That is unfair—that is unfair. But I do acknowledge David Parker over the other side of the House and his far more in-depth knowledge—Hon David Parker: Old enough to have trained with your husband.JACQUI DEAN: Yes. I must tell my husband that David Parker wishes to go tramping with him; he will be thrilled. He would rather go fishing but that is just by the by.This is a second reading speech. I really have not delved too much into the substance of the bill. I have merely picked up one or two aspects of this bill as a member who was not overly familiar with the select committee consideration but I think if we want to consider what benefit this bill brings—and what a temptation it would be to thump it on the way through but I will not do that—the overriding message I think we should take out of this bill is that the judicial system is working well and has served us well for many many years. However the Act is due for review. It has been reviewed. It is coming into line with other aspects of the Public Service in New Zealand particularly in the justice area with courts modernisation with modernisation of the Department of Corrections and also with the police modernisation. It is a good bill. Once again it shows this Government’s focus on good public service and I commend it to the House.