Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias has warned that decisions “which seem quite innocent” are undermining the basic principles of the constitution. In the Harkness Henry Lecture, delivered at Waikato University last month, Dame Sian made apparent references to the Government’s criminal justice reforms. She said control of court processes through new rules was seen by politicians as Read more
It takes political courage to contradict the prevailing nostrums of the day, and National’s deputy prime minister and Finance Minister, Bill English, is to be commended for doing just this. Opening a Families Commission’s 50 Key Thinkers forum in May, Mr English referred to prisons as a moral and fiscal failure. In so doing he Read more
A church that has opened its doors to women released from the Wiri women’s prison says 800 volunteers are needed when a new men’s jail opens next door – and it doesn’t know where they will come from. Volunteers from St Elizabeth’s Anglican Church in Clendon have been visiting inmates in the 464-bed women’s prison Read more
The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court judge’s ruling that unborn children do not have a right to life. It also dismissed comments made by the judge about many abortions being granted “on request” Right to Life sued the Abortion Supervisory Committee for allegedly failing to review whether certifying consultants were lawfully granting women Read more
Prison Fellowship New Zealand, which runs the faith-based unit at Rimutaka Prison, has been told it has until May 31 to develop a plan for a rehabilitation component to the services that it already offers. A Corrections Department evaluation conducted last September found the faith-based unit had had no impact on reducing reoffending. The reduction of recidivism has not Read more