Government changes court rules for sexual assault victims

The Government will make changes to the justice system to give victims of sexual assault greater rights and support.

And at a press conference to announce the changes, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has again been quizzed about the plague of ram raids impacting retailers.

The changes include giving sexual assault victims more control in court processes around their name suppression, greater legal protections for victims of sexual and serious violence, and aligning the penalty for sexual connection with a child to a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

“As part of our drive to make the justice system fairer for victims, we are changing the law and trialling approaches that will better support children and adult victims in the courts,” Justice Minister Kiri Allan said.

“We’ve heard from victims and their advocates about where the gaps are in the system. Today we are addressing some of the clearest examples of what needs to change,” she said.

The Government is also funding three new pilots to improve victims’ safety. Allan said these pilots will ensure victims are heard in bail decisions and strengthen support for child victims of sexual violence.

These programmes will be launched in mid-2023. Funding for them would come from the $45.7 million Victims of Crime allocation from last year’s Budget, as well as existing baseline funding.

She said the trials would be at “courts in Whangārei and Manukau over the next year, with an aim to test fixes for some of the bigger gaps in the system and provide crucial evidence about what works in order to drive longer-term change”.

“The initiatives will be evaluated, adjusted according to frontline and victims’ feedback and then, if successful, we can look at how the solution could be scaled up.”

Allan said the changes would come in a bill introduced before the election - although the bill is unlikely to pass before Parliament rises on August 31.

“The Government will introduce a bill before the election that will focus on changes in three areas: sexual violence against children, litigation abuse in family proceedings and giving greater choice to victims of sexual violence around name suppression decisions.

“Currently a child sexual assault victim can be questioned as to whether they consented to sexual activity. This is unacceptable and falls well below societal expectations of how the law should work. We’re fixing the law to minimise the risk of this happening.”

She said the bill would “also provide the courts with greater powers to stop litigation abuse, for example filing excessive or abusive applications in family-related proceedings; and clarify the process to lift name suppression in the criminal court, giving victims a clear opportunity at the time of trial to ask about having it lifted”.

“These changes will make an immediate and meaningful difference to the lives of the victims of some of our most serious and violent crimes. Improving the system will help make complainants feel more comfortable in court and encourage them to come forward.”

At a press conference in Auckland to announce the changes to the justice system, Allan said it was about bringing into alignment the two charges prosecutors can pursue.

She said going for the charge with the tougher penalty can mean children as young as six years old could be asked if they “enjoy it”.

Lifting the penalty for sexual connection with a child will mean prosecutors can pursue that instead.

Justice Minister Kiri Allan announces changes to the justice system at a press conference in Auckland today. New Zealand Herald photograph

Allan said these changes will mean victims are heard.

“Their voices have had to be tagged on in various parts of the process and it simply hasn’t worked”.

She said children have been interrogated over a “whole range” of matters News Zealanders would find abhorrent.

Hipkins said at the announcement the work and the announcements that had been made today sat alongside other improvements in courts and with police.

That includes victims showing up at court to find out their case wasn’t going to proceed on the planned day.

”We’re investing quite a lot of money in streamlining those processes to deal with that inefficiency, he said.

This, he told reporters, will result in a more victim-centric process.

Hipkins was asked about ram raids which continue to threaten the safety and future business of retailers.

“One ramraid is a ram raid too many,” Hipkins said.

Hipkins said they have seen “high levels” of demand from businesses wanting to access extra security protections.

That included fog canons.

”It is hitting top speed now, businesses are getting the support.”

He said they want to make sure workers and businesses “feel safe”, but they also want to stop them from being impacted again which is why they’re also targeting reoffenders.