Victims to get more say in court

The Government is proposing to give victims more say when they face offenders in court.

Under the proposal victims would be allowed to say more in their impact statement, avoiding situations such as when Sophie Elliott's father was forced to read a heavily censored version of his statement to her killer in court.

Justice Minister Simon Power said the proposal was part of efforts aimed at enhancing victims' rights.

Acknowledging victims did not want to be limited in what they could say, it proposed to "give victims the automatic right to read or otherwise present their [statement] to the court".

Guidelines would also be improved, and the material in the statements broadened.

The Herald last month revealed that police gave Gil Elliott his statement back with entire sections crossed out at the judge's request the night before Clayton Weatherston was to be sentenced.

Mr Elliott is angry about the censorship, saying most of what was taken out was innocuous in a legal sense but very important to Sophie's family.

The Government has called for public submissions on the proposal, which also includes setting up a victims services centre and victims of crime complaints officers to help victims through the aftermath of crime.