NEW ZEALAND
Authority of justice reaffirmed
In Saturday's Hawke's Bay Weekend, Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft declared that the gloves were off in dealing with young offenders and that his courts were no kumbaya-singing soft option.
His comments came at the end of a day of working at the coal-face during a session in the Hastings District Court. They were a welcome reassurance that the judiciary is, despite criticism to the contrary, attentive to the need for correction at the stage when it is needed most. Youth courts play the most essential of roles in curbing lawlessness.
While a range of factors are pitted against the treatment of offending in the young, ultimately it is the courts that must treat it in a way that is both effective and meaningful. And just as important as the reckoning assured by a court appearance is the need to ensure that a judge's orders are followed.
The most significant (and, disturbingly under-acknowledged) factor in youth offending is parental dereliction. While few, if any, parents are held to account, Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier this week came out swinging threatening bad parents, who flout court orders, with jail sentences. The judge said that to drive home the message that legally enforceable orders must be obeyed, he had asked the Justice Ministry to investigate having police prosecute those who breach parenting or protection orders.
One of the complaints about the Family Court, he said, was that sometimes there were no proper consequences if a person breached an order "so they wonder what the point of coming to court is".
Earlier, Judge Boshier told a public law seminar "this is a court where you are entitled to expect consequences and you'll get them".
One has to wonder at the level of job satisfaction for judges when their decisions can be treated with such disdain. It is an exercise in futility when expectations for taking a hard line are met in words only because orders are not followed up. Justice is nothing without consequences. The persistence of youth crime and the scoff-law attitude of parents who ignore Family Court rulings are part of the same problem.
Louis Pierard
24 April 2088