Stalemate over Family Court
New Zealand has again refused to instigate a royal commission on the Family Court, bringing New Zealand and the United Nations’ women’s rights committee to a stalemate.
Since 2018, domestic violence advocacy groups have been publicly calling on the Government to take an in-depth look at the culture of the court, arguing it is unsafe for women and children.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) backed that call in its periodic review, saying there were ‘‘drawbacks’’ and an obstruction of justice inherent in the Family Court system.
The Government instead chose to complete a ministerial review by an independent panel, with amore limited scope.
The panel assessed the impact of changes made to the Family Court in 2014, which were designed to speed up the process but had not.
The panel’s review, released in 2019, also reported that ‘‘knowledge of family violence in all its forms is still not widespread and its impact on children, including on their safety, is still poorly understood’’.
However, advocates said they had not been able to get to the heart of the issues, because of the limited terms of reference.
Domestic violence charity the Backbone Collective, for example, said the issue was not with the legislation but the way it was implemented.
It said a more powerful inquiry was needed – one that could not only provide protection for women and children who took part but one that had the power to subpoena documentation and witnesses, including judges and other professionals working in the court.
Their concerns were ‘‘vindicated’’ when, earlier in March, the UN committee released another report on New Zealand.
It said it was ‘‘concerned’’ the review did not address the root causes of the systemic lack of trust and sensitivity towards female victims in the court, and that women’s safety was not part of the inquiry at all.
It said therefore New Zealand had not completed the recommendation and it wanted more information about what ‘‘appropriate action’’ it would take tomake the court system safe, at the country’s next appearance before its members.
In response, Justice Minister Kris Faafoi told Stuff he was still not considering a royal commission.
‘‘I believe that continuing to progress the recommendations of the independent panel, which examined the 2014 Family Court reforms, will address the issues underlying this CEDAW recommendation,’’ Faafoi said.
The work responding to the findings about family violence and its impact on children had already begun, he said.
For example, the Family Court (Supporting Children in Court) Bill was introduced in August 2020.
It amended the Care of Children Act 2004 and the Family Dispute Resolution Act 2013 to clearly signal that children should be provided with opportunities to have input into decisions about their care.
The bill also signalled that family violence should be considered in all decisions about children’s care.
Faafoi said the Ministry of Justice was also funding training on family violence dynamics which would be available to all lawyers.
Due to the scale of the changes proposed and the resourcing needed to implement all the areas of reform suggested by the panel, the Government was using a phased approach to implementation, he said.
New Zealand will report to CEDAW again next year on its progress towards meeting the recommendations.
A North Otago woman has admitted deliberately mixing antidepressants, pharmaceutical eye drops and nasal spray with milk before giving it to her young child while hewas in hospital in 2018. The 35-year-old woman admitted two representative charges of ill-treatment of a child by administering various substances at Dunedin Hospital and then at Starship Children’s Hospital. She also admitted a charge of theft from the Auckland City Hospital pharmacy. The baby’s mother, who cannot be named, admitted the charges before Justice Christine Gordon yesterday at the High Court at Auckland. Court documents obtained by Stuff showthe drugs the defendant administered were tetrahydrozoline, naphazoline, pheniramine, antazoline and sertraline. Justice Gordon convicted the woman and remanded her on bail to be sentenced on May 11.