Victims’ champion proposed
The Government’s chief victims adviser would like to see a victims’ commissioner as part of the reform of the criminal justice system.
Dr Kim McGregor said the role could resemble that of the Health And Disability Commissioner.
There were many different victims for different crimes and she believed a commission would be able to provide a range of support, tailored to the varying needs of victims in the system.
McGregor, who was speaking to media after her opening remarks at a workshop for victims, said she would like to see a victims navigator through the siloed system.
‘‘I would like to see someone help a victim understand their role in the system … [currently] there is no one person translating for the victim. We need that.’’
It was easy to say victims are at the heart of the justice system but they actually felt left out and sidelined, she said.
Victims did not have one person or unit in the entire system for them, she said.
‘‘They don’t have their own lawyer … are not represented or protected in the system.
‘‘They don’t have one person to assist them though the system.
‘‘When I asked officials, how many victims do we have in the system at any one time, no-one can answer that.’’
The system could not track victims; to see how long they waited for a trial or how many times a trial was halted, she said.
Her comments come as the preliminary results of a victims survey reveal the system is ‘‘letting victims down’’.
More than 600 people participated in the survey that asked victims of crime for their views on the criminal justice system, what worked and what didn’t, and how they believed it could be improved.
Fifty-seven per cent of people said that they either had a poor or very poor overall experience of the system, while 22 per cent said they had an average experience.
‘‘Almost every day I hear complaints from victim advocates about victims not feeling supported, believed, or listened to and the victims voices we are hearing from the survey are telling us the same thing,’’ McGregor said.
‘‘Respondents noted that victims need to be at the centre of the justice system, and we need to ensure that they are supported and considered throughout the process.
‘‘They often felt that there needed to be more opportunities for victims to have their say throughout the criminal justice process and that perpetrators of crime seemed to have more rights than them.’’
Yesterday and today about 160 people have gathered at the workshop: Ha¯ paitia te Oranga Tangata – Safe and Effective Justice: Strengthening the criminal system for victims.
It was the first time various parts of the system could gather together to talk about the gaps in the system and what the solutions might be, she said.
Attendees included seven judges, representatives from police, court staff, prosecutors, Corrections, parole, victim advocates and victims, she said.
It follows last year’s criminal justice summit, where victims were represented but felt a dedicated session from the victims’ perspective was needed.
The survey and the workshop were two of the methods being used to ensure the voices of victims and survivors were at the centre of the criminal justice reform programme, McGregor said.
The feedback would inform her recommendations to the Government on how the criminal justice system can be improved for victims.
Justice Minister Andrew Little said he was confident there would be a great package of proposals and recommendations for him to consider in June this year.
The survey findings came as no surprise but told him there was still a lot of work to do.
‘‘How our justice system treats victims of crime is a measure of its humanity and it is vital for confidence in that system,’’ he told the workshop.
Little shared a personal ‘‘defining [victim] experience’’ during his opening speech.
In 1993 his friend’s father, retired Foxton doctor Howard Teppett, was a victim of homicide.
As a newly practising lawyer, Little sat with the family during the murder trial and tried to help explain the system to a family who were ‘‘left out’’.
‘‘It was clear to me the trauma of the loss of Howard, in an act of violence, was compounded by a system that was incapable of dealing with the family with empathy and sensitivity,’’ Little said.
Meanwhile, new research released by Victim Support showed the majority of serious crime victims lack faith in the justice system, felt justice was not served in their case, and commonly reported they felt they had no genuine voice in the justice system.
About 59 per cent of victims interviewed told researchers they had no faith in the justice system and 68 per cent felt justice had not been served in their case.
This was despite 73 per cent of cases in the study resulting in a guilty verdict and 52 per cent resulting in imprisonment of the offender.
Victim Support researcher Dr Petrina Hargrave said there was a perception that when victims are let down by the justice system, it was often because their offender was not given a harsh sentence.
‘‘Our research shows that justice is much more complex than whether the offender is found guilty or receives a prison sentence.
‘‘We know harsher penalties don’t prevent victimisation.
‘‘What we need to get tough on is injustice, and let victims tell us what that means to them.’’
When victims were asked what justice meant to them, accountability was a common response, along with being heard, and fairness, Hargrave said.
She said the justice system was a high-risk environment for victims and being part of it took courage.
The research identified three key barriers to justice: fear, exclusion and unfairness.