Latest news with #JusticeCommittee
Scoop
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Major Changes To Proposed Anti-Stalking Law
Press Release – New Zealand Government This change better recognises patterns in stalking behaviour and time that can pass between incidents. For example, stalking that occurs around anniversaries would not be covered under the original 12-month period, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith … Minister of Justice Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is welcoming changes to toughen up the proposed anti-stalking law, including being triggered after two specified acts within 24 months. 'This change better recognises patterns in stalking behaviour and time that can pass between incidents. For example, stalking that occurs around anniversaries would not be covered under the original 12-month period,' Mr Goldsmith says. 'We've said from day one victims are our priority. Returning them to the heart of our justice system underpins all our work to restore law and order. 'Stalkers have been able to evade real consequences for their actions for far too long. As I announced in November, the offence will have a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. 'This builds on our work already underway to restore real consequences for crime, with our sentencing reforms coming into effect at the end of this month. 'I want to thank those who made submissions during the select committee process. Your input has identified some important ways we can combat this insidious behaviour. 'The Justice Committee has now put forward a raft of recommendations, which government parties have agreed to. 'This includes strengthening the pattern of behaviour definition to only require two specified acts, and within a two-year period.' Other changes made to the Bill by the Committee to enhance its effectiveness include: Addressing the publishing of any statement or other material relating to the other person, or purporting to originate from that person (also known as doxing). Adding new sections to enable the disposal of any intimate visual recordings possessed by a person convicted of the new stalking and harassment offence. Adding the new offence to the Firearms Prohibition Orders regime, allowing those orders to be made when a person is convicted of the new offence. Clarifying the new aggravating factor relating to stalking by more clearly linking the associated stalking and harassment-type behaviours to the offence the person is charged with. Making it clear that restraining orders under the Harassment Act 1997 and orders under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 can be made when a person is discharged without conviction in relation to the new offence.
Scoop
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Major Changes To Proposed Anti-Stalking Law
Minister of Justice Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is welcoming changes to toughen up the proposed anti-stalking law, including being triggered after two specified acts within 24 months. 'This change better recognises patterns in stalking behaviour and time that can pass between incidents. For example, stalking that occurs around anniversaries would not be covered under the original 12-month period,' Mr Goldsmith says. 'We've said from day one victims are our priority. Returning them to the heart of our justice system underpins all our work to restore law and order. 'Stalkers have been able to evade real consequences for their actions for far too long. As I announced in November, the offence will have a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. 'This builds on our work already underway to restore real consequences for crime, with our sentencing reforms coming into effect at the end of this month. 'I want to thank those who made submissions during the select committee process. Your input has identified some important ways we can combat this insidious behaviour. 'The Justice Committee has now put forward a raft of recommendations, which government parties have agreed to. 'This includes strengthening the pattern of behaviour definition to only require two specified acts, and within a two-year period.' Other changes made to the Bill by the Committee to enhance its effectiveness include: Addressing the publishing of any statement or other material relating to the other person, or purporting to originate from that person (also known as doxing). Adding new sections to enable the disposal of any intimate visual recordings possessed by a person convicted of the new stalking and harassment offence. Adding the new offence to the Firearms Prohibition Orders regime, allowing those orders to be made when a person is convicted of the new offence. Clarifying the new aggravating factor relating to stalking by more clearly linking the associated stalking and harassment-type behaviours to the offence the person is charged with. Making it clear that restraining orders under the Harassment Act 1997 and orders under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 can be made when a person is discharged without conviction in relation to the new offence.
Eyewitness News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Meyiwa trial: Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng apologises for race-based remarks
JOHANNESBURG - The presiding judge in the Senzo Meyiwa trial opened Monday's proceedings with an apology for race-based remarks he recently made. Last week, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng drew widespread outrage after he rebuked Advocate Charles Mnisi for asking for leave as he would be running the comrades marathon. Mnisi had sent a message to the court's registrar that he would be returning from KwaZulu-Natal after running Sunday's Comrades Marathon. "This is South Africa, run by blacks. I can tell you now, even if you call me an Uncle Tom, I don't think a white advocate would have the gall to ask me that. Never," said Mokgoatlheng. Lawyers and Parliament's Justice Committee called for him to withdraw his comments and issue a public apology. On Monday, Mokgoatlheng gave a detailed apology for his conduct.
Sky News
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
New miscarriage of justice watchdog chair calls leadership 'unimpressive'
The watchdog that examines potential miscarriages of justice has "unimpressive" leadership and is "incompetent", said its new chair as she takes up her role. Dame Vera Baird has been appointed to head up the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC), which currently has serial child killer Lucy Letby's appeal in its inbox. The CCRC is an independent public body that reviews possible miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and refers cases to the appeal courts. The commission has had four critical reviews in the last 10 years, which Dame Vera said "all find the same thing". Speaking to Sky News after her appointment was announced, she said: "They don't communicate with applicants, are reluctant to challenge the Court of Appeal, they look for reasons not to refer rather than to refer and are quite often incompetent." Dame Vera is now charged with turning things around. She cites the example of Andrew Malkinson who was wrongly convicted of rape and spent 17 years in jail, when for most of that time DNA evidence had emerged that could have cleared his name. He had applied three times to the CCRC but was rejected twice on cost-benefit grounds. It's one of several cases leading to calls for "root and branch" reform of the CCRC from the Justice Committee, which said the watchdog "has shown a remarkable inability to learn from its own mistakes". An inquiry by Chris Henley KC also found that case workers missed multiple opportunities to help Malkinson. The previous chair, Helen Pitcher, was forced to resign in January and chief executive Karen Kneller told the committee of MPs they needed a strong replacement. Ms Kneller said in April: "We don't have that figurehead and without that figurehead I think it is difficult for the organisation." But that replacement did not think much of her evidence to MPs. "I didn't find her impressive," said Dame Vera, who will be meeting her new colleague next week. "I was really quite concerned about, first of all, the kind of fairly sketchy way in which she even allowed that they got it wrong in Malkinson, and these assertions that she was sorry that people only judged them by the mistakes, and they all took them very seriously, but actually they were otherwise doing a very good job. "My fear is that the attitude in the case of Malkinson and others, points to there being an attitude that's not positive, that's not mission-driven, that is not go-getter in other cases. So, are they getting it done properly?" A month later, a committee of MPs said Ms Kneller's position was no longer tenable. Committee chairman Andy Slaughter said: "As a result of our concerns regarding the performance of the CCRC and the unpersuasive evidence Karen Kneller provided to the committee, we no longer feel that it is tenable for her to continue as chief executive of the CCRC." 3:06 In February, the CCRC received an application from Lucy Letby, the former nurse convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others. It's a high-profile, complex case, arriving at a significant moment of flux. Asked if she thought the CCRC could deal with it, Dame Vera said: "Remember I'm quite new to it. It will need complexity. It will need a team. It will need the readiness to commission reports, I would guess from what's been said about the lack of scientific value in some of the things that were asserted. "So it's going to be a very complex task." In the Baird Inquiry into Greater Manchester Police last year, Dame Vera strongly criticised the force. She has a reputation for exposing hard truths to institutions, but now she is the institution. She will need to drive the changes.
Scoop
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Have Your Say On The Judicature (Timeliness) Legislation Amendment Bill
Press Release – Justice Committee The bill would amend the Senior Courts Act 2016, the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, and the Coroners Act 2006. The Chairperson of the Justice Committee is calling for public submissions on the Judicature (Timeliness) Legislation Amendment Bill. The objective of the bill is to improve timeliness in New Zealand's courts by maximising judicial resources. It aims to ensure that judicial time is focused on the most critical tasks and decisions. The bill would amend the Senior Courts Act 2016, the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, and the Coroners Act 2006. It would: increase by two the number of High Court Judges that could be appointed, from 55 to 57 make procedural amendments to minimise the volume of proceedings that abuse the process of the courts reduce duplication at the pre-trial stage and maximise the use of judicial and court resources allow appeals to the Court of Appeals relating to District Court decisions to be heard by a court at the appropriate level enable coroners to close an inquiry if it were no longer appropriate to conduct an inquiry because of new information or changed circumstances. Tell the Justice Committee what you think Make a submission on the bill by 1pm on Wednesday 25 June 2025.
