Chief judge takes action to speed up sentencing

Extra court resources mean prisoners held on remand will be sentenced a lot quicker, the acting Chief District Court Judge says.

Judge John Walker said that with the support of the Ministry of Justice and Corrections, he had been working on measures to address the high number of prisoners awaiting sentence.

Prisoners held on remand make up more than one-third of the prison population, and about 1200 of those prisoners are awaiting sentence.

‘‘People have a right to have timely access to justice, especially when they are being held in custody,’’ Judge Walker said.

Prisoners held in custody on remand were not eligible for rehabilitation programmes which had implications for community safety, he said.

The judge said an extra eight judge-weeks had been allocated in the Auckland, Manukau and Christchurch courts for remand prisoner sentencings. Lawyers had also been told to ensure sentencing dates were met and court time was not wasted.

Corrections would be more proactive in preparing prisoners for sentencing, including resolving earlier in the process any difficulties with finding suitable addresses for electronically monitored sentences.

Judge Walker said all parts of the district court were under pressure.

‘‘The fact there have been inadequate judicial numbers to deal with the increasing seriousness and complexity in the criminal jurisdiction and backlogs arising in the Family Court because of legislative reform in that jurisdiction was acknowledged in the 2019 Budget,’’ he said. ‘‘The Government lifted the cap on district court judge numbers to 182 and made immediate provision for 12 judges to be appointed.

‘‘While we await those extra appointments, and having identified the pressure on sentencing dates, I have put additional judicial resources into this priority area.’’

Ministry of Justice chief operating officer Carl Crafar told Stuff the remand prison population was affected by many factors such as the number of category three and above cases [more serious] entering the justice system, judicial resourcing, court scheduling, the amendment to bail laws as well as delays by defence and prosecution lawyers.

Category three cases made up 98 per cent of the remand population, Crafar said.

‘‘However, while the number of people entering remand has remained relatively consistent, there has been an increase in the time spent on remand since late 2018. This is due to the increase in the time it is taking to resolve category three cases through courts.’’