Principal Family Court Judge on Instant Portection Orders

NZPA reports Judge Boshier:

The Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Amendment Bill aims to strengthen what the criminal justice system can do to protect victims.

The new orders, which will last for up to five days, can be issued when police do not have enough to arrest an offender but they think the family is in danger.

Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier today told Parliament’s justice and electoral select committee he strongly supported the five-day order as in some places, such as Kaikohe and Greymouth, the court did not sit every day, leaving the victim exposed until it did.

“The real bubble in family violence is Christmas. Every January we are besieged with family violence orders and if you had five working days that would be, I think, a reasonable compromise between civil liberties and the need to be protective,” he said.

I am a strong supporter. I think victims of domestic violence get very little effective protection from current laws.

“What I could not support, if I could say very clearly and strongly, is any notion that there could be a right of a review before a court of that five-day order.

“We would not physically have the ability to cope.”

Some have called for there to be a right of review. It sounds like it is just not workable.

Judge Boshier also urged the committee to give police the power to arrest criminals who failed to attend programmes they had been ordered to go to, such as anger management courses.

Uptake of such programmes was “terrible” and police could only summons people who did not attend to appear before the court, a process Judge Boshier said was cumbersome and given low priority.

“I feel that if police had the power of arrest, they could deal with it instantly,” he said.

“I think it would have the effect of getting non-attenders to programmes much more rapidly.”

Not a bad idea.