Case backlog hinders justice
People fighting for their human rights face ‘‘beyond unacceptable’’ waits of more than two years for justice, after politicians and officials ignored repeated pleas for a law change to help clear the backlog, documents reveal.
‘‘Access to justice is being denied to almost all,’’ Human Rights Review Tribunal chairman Rodger Haines wrote in his latest letter, to Justice Minister Andrew Little.
‘‘For a tribunal charged with protecting human rights, the situation is ironic, to say the least.’’
Claimant Lyn Copland – a grieving mother publicly shamed by the chief executive of the health board in whose care her son died – said the delays were disgusting, insulting and cruel. They made a mockery of human rights protections.
Privacy commissioner John Edwards also labelled the delays unacceptable and said planned Privacy Act changes would further stress the struggling tribunal: ‘‘Any justice delayed is justice denied.’’
The tribunal hears claims of harassment, discrimination, breaches of privacy as well as health and disability rights. Its workload has ballooned, from 38 new cases in 2014, to 93 in 2016, meaning that claimants wait two years for a hearing, and up to another three years for a decision.
A quirk of law means a deputy chairperson cannot be appointed to share the workload.
Tribunal chairman Rodger Haines wrote to then justice minister Amy Adams in September 2016, and again in February 2017, asking for an urgent law change to let deputy chairs be appointed to help with the ‘‘unprecedented’’ increase in cases, which had ‘‘overwhelmed’’ the tribunal.
‘‘For a tribunal whose jurisdiction is about fundamental human rights, delays of this kind are beyond unacceptable.’’ Human Rights Review Tribunal chairman Rodger Haines in a letter to then justice minister Amy Adams.
‘‘For a tribunal whose jurisdiction is about fundamental human rights, delays of this kind are beyond unacceptable,’’ he wrote.
Last August, then associate justice minister Mark Mitchell approved a co-chairperson for 12 months. However, Haines said one additional decision-maker was not enough. Even with two extra fulltime decision-makers, it would take at least two years to clear the backlog.
Claimant Glenn Marshall said the documents – released under the Official Information Act – showed ‘‘that poor bugger has been bloody screaming out for help for several years, and nothing’s been done’’.
Marshall lodged privacy and human rights claims against care organisation IDEA Services on behalf of his disabled son, Eamon, in March and June 2017 but has heard nothing since. The privacy commissioner has already found IDEA Services breached the privacy code, following its failure to release the full investigation into the mismanagement of Eamon’s seizure medication.
While Eamon was now in good care, Marshall said his family wanted a tribunal decision to help other disabled people, and to give them closure. ‘‘It means we can’t actually move on. It’s not like I want to bring them down but I do want to hold them to account.’’
Lyn Copland was told her case would not be heard for at least two years. The Privacy Commission has already ruled that former Capital and Coast DHB chief executive Debbie Chin breached Copland’s privacy in an all-staff email after her son Samuel Fischer died of suspected suicide in Wellington Hospital’s secure mental health unit in April 2015. However, the two parties could not agree to a resolution, so she had to start again with the tribunal.
Copland said the two-tier system was bizarre and the delays prolonged the trauma of Sam’s death, when she should be grieving in peace.
‘‘They have gone through the process and been found guilty – it’s there in black and white. It’s a complete mockery. You can do privacy breaches all you like and nothing is ever going to happen to you until at least five years down the track, and only if the person has the money and tenacity to pursue you.’’
When asked why she had ignored Haines’ repeated pleas for a law change, former justice minister Amy Adams said officials advised her a deputy chairperson was not needed.
Adams said her government introduced the Courts Matters Bill and Tribunals Powers and Procedures Legislation Bill, which would improve timeliness.
The Justice Ministry’s courts and tribunals manager, Jacquelyn Shannon, acknowledged the tribunal’s greater workload, and said more would need to be done.
She did not explain why the requested law change did not happen, simply saying other changes had been made to help clear the backlog, including appointing a temporary co-chairperson.
New Associate Justice Minister Aupito William Sio, who is responsible for the tribunal, said he would consider increasing funding and extending the co-chairperson’s 12-month term.