LEGAL LOWDOWN
NEWSLETTER #11 May 2014
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE This is a proposed Member’s Bill being supported by the Green Party women’s spokeswomen, Jan Logie. The purpose of the proposed law changes is to address an apparent gap in current legislation and to provide workplace protection for those who are subjected to domestic violence. The Bill would provide flexibility to victims in their working arrangements, protect victims from workplace discrimination and allow victims to claim up to 10 days leave due to domestic violence per year. Ultimately the Bill also proposes to reduce the massive costs incurred by New Zealand businesses each year due to the effects of employees suffering from domestic violence.
ALCOHOL & OTHER DRUG TREATMENT COURTS – AN EVALUATION
AOD Courts
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We take a look at the at the effect of the new Alcohol and other Drug Treatment Court.
Services We are you a services outline services edition.
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excited to bring number of new in 2014. We some of those in this months’
The proposed key law changes under the Bill are as follows: Changes to interpretations provided for in the Domestic Violence Act 2000. A right for employees, who are victims of domestic violence, to request a variation in their work arrangements under the Employment Relations Act 2000. Being a victim of domestic violence will be added to the prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Employment Relations Act 2000. Domestic violence will be added to the definition of hazard under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. The practical effect of this would be mean employers have to take all reasonable steps to ensure employees are not exposed to domestic violence at work.
Updates
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We provide a brief of this months’ news and update form the legal fraternity.
The Holidays Act 2003 will be amended to allow victims of domestic violence to request up to 10 days domestic violence leave. The Human Rights Act 1993 will be amended to add being a victim of domestic violence as a prohibited ground of discrimination.
We will endeavour to provide updates of the progress of the Bill in due course. For more information please see the New Zealand Parliament website: http://www.parliament.nz/ennz/pb/legislation/proposedbills/50HOH_MEMBILL298_1/domesticviolence-victims-protection-bill
Cover Photo Credit: http://muslimvillage.com/2011/09/22/14948/dru gs-alcohol-and-muslims/
ALCOHOL & OTHER DRUG TREATMENT COURT The Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court (AODT Court) is a new initiative that, as part of the government’s Addressing the Drivers of Crime work programme, aims to help reduce the number of people who offend and are victimised due to alcohol and drug dependency. The Ministry of Justice commissioned Litmus Limited to undertake a formative evaluation in November of last year of the pilot scheme in the Auckland and Waitakere district courts. The goal of this evaluation was to examine how well the AODT Court was working and suggest improvements. There are five primary aims of the AODT Court pilot; to reduce offending, reduce alcohol and drug dependency, reduce the use of imprisonment, positively impact of health and wellbeing, and to be cost effective. The Judiciary, Law Commission and the Ministry of Justice with support from the Ministry of Health, Department of Corrections and the Police all contributed to the development of the AODT Court. A key component of the Court is the inclusion of Tikanga Maori (Maori customary practices/law) and other community support programmes such as 12-Step Programmes. The inclusion of Tikanga is currently limited to the role of Maori community representatives; Tikanga is not currently embedded in the AODT Court process itself. The estimated cost of the pilot is nearly $30,000 per offender per year (less than half of what it costs to keep one person in prison for a year). The AODT Court is targeted at defendants whose offending is the result of an alcohol or drug dependency, who are facing a sentence of three years or less and have pleaded guilty. Potential participants are identified by the Judge when appearing in the District Court and are considered to be on bail for the duration of the programme. A treatment plan is created for the individual based on his or her needs. The length of the programme varies and typically lasts 12-18 months. The programme has three phases; the first phase focuses on intensive treatment and rehabilitation with frequent drug tests and court appearances, while in the second and third phases there is an increased focus on personal goals, with the intent of securing employment or entering into training or study. The programme has a system of graduated incentives and sanctions that are administered by the Court. Successfully completing the programme results in graduation and the continuation to sentencing by the District Court, where the graduation is taken into account. Overall, the Litmus report gave a favourable review to the pilot scheme and recommended that it continue to be developed, although it did concede that the long term effects of the programme (i.e. its impact on recidivism rates) are not yet able to be determined. There were a number of areas in which the report suggested that there was a need for improvement. Among these recommendations was a suggestion that the integration of Tikanga be increased and further programmes for supporting those who graduate from the programme be implemented. There were serious concerns raised about the lack of victim engagement, with the report suggesting that victims were not involved in the process until it was too late to be of any benefit, if at all. Finally, the report identified three main issues with the drug testing process, namely; the differing perceptions between the court and the testing providers on the timeliness and content of the information reported; queries about the consistency of testing; and concerns about the location of testing facilities being too remote. Although there are still some issues to work through, the AODT Court programme has the potential to help deal with the damage caused by drug and alcohol fuelled crime in New Zealand in a logical and cost-effective way. Further Reading Litmus. (2014). Formative Evaluation for the Alcohol and other Drug Treatment Court Pilot. Wellington: Litmus. Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (AODT) Court pilot. Wellington: Ministry of Justice. Accessed May 2014, from http://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/district-court/alcohol-and-other-drug-treatment-aodt-court-pilot-1
OUTREACH CLINICS: ENGAGING WITH OUR COMMUNITY As part of our commitment to our community, we hold several outreach clinics throughout our service area to maintain face-to-face engagement with our clients. Otara CLSST Office 120 Bairds Road Otara
Otahuhu We currently do not have an Outreach clinic in Otahuhu
Appointments available: Monday – Friday Pukekohe Heartland Services 2 King Street Pukekohe
Manurewa Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave Manurewa
Appointments available: Fortnightly on Tuesday
Appointments available: Wednesday
Manukau Salvation Army 16B Bakerfield Place Manukau
Papakura Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau 4a Opaheke Road Papakura
Appointments available: Monday-Friday
Appointments available: Thursday
FIND US ONLINE: Website: www.clsstlaw.com
https://www.facebook.com/clsstlaw
https://twitter.com/clsstlaw
CLSST SERVICES
COMMUNITY EVENTS & SEMINARS
LEGAL LUNCHBOX SERIES 4 Legal Lunchbox this month covered Employment Law rights. Over four weeks we looked at the Employment Relations Act 2000minimum employment entitlements, redundancies & restructuring, dismissals, personal grievance and employment dispute resolution. We are making changes to our Legal Lunchbox sessions including changes of venues for some sessions. These changes will take effect in July 2014. For more details on upcoming Legal Lunchbox sessions, please see next months’ issue of Legal Lowdown.
Participants at our Legal Lunchbox Series 4 on Employment Law at Papakura
MANA WAHINE DAY 2014 On 8 May 2014 Manurewa Marae hosted a Mana Wahine Day with the purpose of celebrating women. The theme of Mana Wahine day was “Be comfortable in your own skin”. The aim of Mana Wahine day was to empower, educate and inspire the young women of Manurewa. The day was supported by local education, health, advice, youth, beauty, therapy and healing organisations. CLSST was also present to promote our free legal services. CLSST Manger, Robyn Martin at Mana Wahine Day at Manurewa Marae, 8 May 2014.
NZ SIGN LANGUAGE WEEK 2014 NZ sign language week was 12-18 May 2014. The purpose of NZ sign language week is to celebrate, communicate and connect with our deaf community in New Zealand. This year we invited our friends from Auckland Disability Law to train our lawyers on how to deal with client who have hearing disabilities. For more information please see Deaf Aotearoa’s website: www.deaf.org.nz Auckland Disability Law presentation on working with the Deaf Community of New Zealand
PRIVACY WEEK 2014 Privacy Week 2014 was held from May 4th – 10th and this year we aimed to increase awareness of privacy rights in New Zealand. To achieve this we created a privacy information pamphlet which you can download via our website:
http://www.clsstlaw.com/re sources.html
LEGAL EDUCATION - WAIKATO
CLSST Lawyer Wi Pere Mita and Toni Trim from Community Law Waikato teaming up to provide legal education to alternative education youths of South Waikato
CLSST SERVICES: COMMUNITY EVENTS, UPDATES AND NEWS FREE MONTHLY MAORI LAND CLINICS Venue:
Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave Manurewa
Times:
10am-3pm (30min appointments)
Dates:
2 July 2014 6 August 2014 3 September 2014 1 October 2014 5 November 2014 3 December 2014
RADIO 531pi Our weekly Legal Information slot on Radio 531pi will continue this month where we will cover Consumer Law rights. Tune-In to Radio 531pi, Tuesdays from 2pm
Proudly brought to you by Te Mata Law, Maori Land Court, Tamaki Makaurau and CLSST Contact: Wi Pere Mita – wipere.mita@clsstlaw.com
BUDGET 2014 & ITS EFFECT ON ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN NZ As with any budget, reduction in particular sectors is inevitable and the Budget 2014 was no exception. On 15 May 2014, Minister of Finance Hon. Bill English announced the Budget 2014 which had significant implications for access to justice. Of those departments/sectors which suffered funding cuts were; The Department of Corrections which lost $100 million in funding, the Court System which lost $31 million in funding and the Ministry of Justice which lost $28 million in funding. Legal Aid administration also takes an $8.5 million hit which will affect the processing of legal aid applications and payments. JustSpeak provides that some of the essential services regarding access to justice continue to be underfunded, which includes Community Law:
“This year’s Budget also fails to increase spending on ancillary services to legal aid, such as the Public Defence Service and Community Law Centres. Both perform a vital, front-line role in our criminal justice system by ensuring that people of low income can receive legal advice and representation. The continued underfunding of both these services threatens access to justice, especially given that legal aid funding will be scarcer in the coming year.” On the up note, the Government has made a step in the right direction by increasing funding to sexual violence victims. These services will assist survivors of sexual violence in rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Overall, as a result of the Budget 2014, justice, especially for those on low incomes, will be that much harder to access. In any event CLSST remains committed to serving the unmet legal needs of our community. Source: http://justspeak.org.nz/budget2014/ and http://www.budget.govt.nz/budget/2014/speech/index.htm