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Maranga Mai!
The Criminal Justice
System (for Government,
the Ministry of Justice
with tino rangatiratanga
partners)
10. Rangatira Māori did not sign Te Tiriti in 1840 with the vision that large numbers
of their descendants, men, women and young people would not kōrero te reo,
become impoverished, be dehumanised by racism, rejected by their country
and incarcerated. In anticipation of an updated He Whaipaanga Hou (2022)
report being published, envisaging a criminal justice system free of racism, the
government should consider the following actions:
i.
With tino rangatiratanga partners, government develop and implement
a comprehensive reform of Aotearoa’s justice system with the goal of
abolishing prisons by 2040.
ii.
Review legislation relating to the justice system process, including the
Sentencing Act (2002), Bail Act (2000), Criminal Procedure Act (2011) and all
legislation relating to care and protection and ensure it reflects Te Tiriti, te ao
Māori, and tikanga Māori approaches to justice.
iii. The Government establish a Mana Ōrite justice partnership under which
Māori and Crown agencies share governance and decision-making at all
levels of the justice sector. Tikanga and te ao Māori values to be central to
the operation of the justice system.
iv. A kaupapa Māori-based evaluation of the current youth, specialist and
therapeutic courts across Aotearoa is completed. Key learnings and
principles from kaupapa models are embedded across the mainstream
court process. More specialist courts focused on rangatahi, sexual
violence, alcohol and other drug treatment, and family violence courts
are established.
11. Institutional racism is challenged within the justice system with more diverse
recruitment and effective training in the justice system, as well as anti-racism
school programmes and media campaigns.
12. Applying ‘by Māori for Māori’, the government prioritise investment in
community-led transformative justice, including:
i.
Transferring power and resources to Māori communities to design and
develop Māori-led responses to offending, and rangatahi and whānau
well-being.
ii.
Review section 27 of the Sentencing Act 2002, to direct cultural reports
for all Māori before the courts.
iii. Establish more Te Pae Oranga, iwi and community panels, to enable
more cases to be heard. Invest in kaupapa Māori Legal Units within each
Community Law Centre, to support access to justice in Māori communities.
The Treaty Settlements
policy and Waitangi
Tribunal (for government
with tino rangatiratanga
partners)
13. In recognition that the Crown undermined tino rangatiratanga and
dispossessed Māori tribes of land and resources through law, violence and
war and continued to do so through unjust legislation for more than 182 years,
the government could consider the following actions: