Victims must be told of prisoners' compo

The Secretary for Justice will have to track down and notify victims of any inmates paid compensation by the state, under controversial legislation introduced in Parliament yesterday.

The Prisoners and Victims Claims Bill is designed to make it tougher for inmates to get compensation from the state and to make it easier for victims to sue them for it.

While some opponents of the proposal say it is too easy on inmates, others say it clearly discriminates against them and would fail international human rights tests.

The move follows public outrage over a court ruling that awarded five Paremoremo inmates a total of $130,000 in damages for being kept in illegal conditions.

Justice Minister Phil Goff said the legislation would restrict the chances of inmates or those on parole getting compensation by establishing guidelines restricting eligibility.

"They will have to satisfy the court they made reasonable use of available complaints mechanisms without effective redress, and that no other form or remedy would be appropriate."

Such rules would restrict compensation to "exceptional circumstances".

He said they would also "prevent prisoners tolerating breaches for longer than necessary in order to claim compensation".

Any money awarded would be placed in a trust administered by the secretary, who would be obliged to "take reasonable steps to identify and notify victims of the offender that money is held in trust against which they may make a claim".

Victims would have six months to file a claim, which would then be heard by a District Court judge sitting as a Victims Special Claims Tribunal.

Claims would typically be decided by paper evidence so victims did not have to attend the hearings. Both sides would get legal aid.

Victims have always had the right to take civil claims for harm or loss, butthere is a six-year time limitation.

Mr Goff said there was little point in suing inmates while they were in prison and when they came out the time limit had often expired.

Under the new law, the six-year limit will be suspended while an offender is in jail, giving victims more time to sue.

The bill will also enable a group such as the Sensible Sentencing Trust to sue on behalf of a victim.

National leader Don Brash said the bill put prisoners first and would make the victims of crime relive their ordeals.

"This is an outrageous situation. Labour rejected a far tidier solution offered by National - to simply stop the compensation being awarded to prisoners."

Green Party justice spokesman Nandor Tanczos said the bill was rushed and an ill-conceived over-reaction to a couple of cases.

The state needed to be held to account if it abused or ill-treated inmates and the ability to seek compensation was one of the best ways of doing that.

Auckland lawyer Marie Dyhrberg said it discriminated against prisoners and made them a "separate class of person".

They were already among the most vulnerable members of society and would now have even less protection.