Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices’ Association Annual Conference

Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to address you today at the 81st Annual Conference of the Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices' Association.

First, I would like to acknowledge your President Ian Knox and your incoming President Alison Thomson; Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson, ladies and gentlemen.

As you know I have been Associate Minister of Justice for just over 100 days and it was only last month that I received the delegation for all matters relating to Justices of the Peace.

I was very pleased to accept this responsibility. I have had a long professional association with the law.

Before I talk about some of the issues which may be of particular relevance to you, I would like to present the big picture in relation to the government's law and order agenda.

In Opposition, we set an ambitious programme for the first 100 days. Nearly one-third of these policies were in the Justice portfolio, and all required legislation to be introduced. I'm pleased to say that we've achieved those goals.

These policies have largely focused on improving the response to crime, including:
• Giving police the power to issue on-the-spot protection orders to help protect victims of domestic violence.
• Directing the courts to take specific account of the fact that the victim is a child when sentencing.
• Tightening up on bail for borderline cases.
• Limiting parole for serious repeat violent offenders and the worst murderers.
• Increasing penalties for participation in organised crime, and making it easier for police to intercept gang communications.
• Expanding DNA collection from suspects, and matching against samples from unsolved crimes.
• Requiring offenders to pay into a fund to help victims with costs that are not available through other means.
• And bolstering the Youth Court with a range of new interventions and sentences.

Our government welcomes debate on the outstanding bills as they make their way through the Select Committee process, and I encourage the Royal Federation to participate in this process.

But now, back to matters close at hand. My first point is that I would like to say that the work carried out by Justices of the Peace represents the quintessence of service.

The office of the Justice of the Peace is an ancient and honourable institution built on volunteering and JPs play a valuable and vital role in New Zealand communities.

As I'm sure you're aware, over 10,000 JPs undertake Ministerial duties. Countless hours are served in the community to witness documents, certify copies and take statutory declarations.

Around 420 of these JPs have also been assigned judicial duties by District Courts. For those who are not familiar with the responsibilities of Judicial JPs, their duties include hearing summary offences, conducting traffic court, presiding over preliminary hearings and issuing warrants.

New Zealand's District Courts play a crucial role within our democracy and serve to demonstrate the integrity and fairness of justice. For many New Zealanders, the quality of the judicial officers that they encounter while at court gives them assurance that they will be fairly and independently treated within the court system.

The work of JPs, and other judicial officers such as Community Magistrates and Visiting Justices ensures our court system has an appropriate range and mix of judicial officers, including District Court Judges, available to preside over a range of cases within our District Courts.

A glance at the statistics relating to the actual charges heard by JPs in the year to October 2008 is revealing.

• Preliminary/deposition hearings 14,165
• Minor and summary offences, including traffic offences 35,736
• Bail and remands 31,995

You give freely of your time, you do excellent work, and you make yourselves publicly available to your communities. Clearly the justice system would simply become a legal system without your involvement. For that, you deserve our utmost thanks and respect.

Secondly, I'd like to draw your attention to the implications of the Criminal Procedure Act - particularly in relation to judicial JPs.

At present Judicial JPs preside over 85% of deposition hearings (around 14,165 hearings). However this is scheduled to change from June 2009. The Criminal Procedure Act implements a changed regime for committal hearings, in which most depositions will proceed by way of written evidence, and not require a hearing. This process is known as a standard committal. The Registrar of the court will complete the majority of these committal processes.

I am advised that the Ministry of Justice is currently carrying out modelling work to identify the implications for judicial officers and will meet with the Royal Federation very shortly to discuss the impact on Judicial JPs.

Another area, in which I am sure you have given more than passing thought, is the matter of funding for JPs. I certainly know that currently the payments are token payments for meal money and travelling allowances.

I have been briefed by the Ministry on the formal funding arrangements in place:
• the Service Agreement - three years' assured funding to the Royal Federation;and
• the Rostering Agreement - three years' assured funding which recognises the role that JP Associations play in rostering Judicial JPs onto the District Court Panels nationally.

I am supportive of these arrangements. However, I am also personally of the view that judicial JPs should receive some element of compensation for the work that they do. Unfortunately, the reality of the current economic climate is that it is not something on which we can make much progress at the present time.

There is another area on which I would like to hear your views - and this is on whether we need to improve the processes around the appointment of Justices of the Peace. I recognise that a number of significant changes made in the Justice of the Peace Amendment Act 2007 are still being bedded in. However, if there is sufficient interest in looking at the appointment process, on issues such as candidate identification, consultation and simplification of process, I would consider conducting a review. It's not to be assumed that all candidates who quest to be a JP will be successful. That is as it should be.

In closing I would like to thank the outgoing president Ian Knox for his dedicated services to the federation and his team's leadership and commitment towards progressing the update and distribution of the two recently revised JP Manuals - Ministerial Duties and Judicial JPs Search Warrant duties.

These two manuals would not have been accomplished without Ian and his team's leadership and commitment. I would like to particularly acknowledge the work of Valerie Redshaw, the National Education Officer, for her dedication in revising these training resources.

I underscore the importance of training of all JPs to ensure that they have the necessary skills to carry out their civic service to the community to a high standard. The assured funding via the Service Agreement and the updated JP manuals also help in this regard.

Whilst there is no legislative requirement for JPs to become a member of a JP Association, my expectation is that they should do so.

The 81st conference provides an excellent opportunity for JPs to consider the future challenges and needs of communities, and where JPs can assist both in the immediate future and years ahead.

I am always open to hearing new and innovative ideas - so please do not hesitate to raise these with me. I wish you all the best for the remainder of your conference.

Thank you.