New Zealand justice out of step with the Universal Declaration of Human rights.

Human RightsIt would appear that New Zealand is  over riding the  requirements of not only the universal declaration of Human rights  article 10 but also the  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights article 14

Both state pretty much the same

All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

Yet in our bill of rights the  only persons who get an assurance of a ” fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal” are those  who have been charged  with a criminal offence

In civil matters  you are on your  own   running the  gauntlet and there is nothing fair about  it  .

I have  sent an OIA to the minister of Justice  who has  said that there is no justice any way  .. so as   one  reader puts it..  then what is she minister of   Minister of In- justice ?  or perhaps minister of Milk promotion

Dear Minister of Justice,
the declaration of human rights at article 10 states

• Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public
hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the
determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal
charge against him.

Yet our bill of rights only mentions the word Fair once
public hearing once ,independent once and impartial once
and that is in section 25 of the bill of rights which only relates
to criminal proceedings.

the universal declaration of rights does not confine the rights set
out in article 10 to just criminal matters but to all matters , the
operative word being “and ”

section 25 states
• 25 Minimum standards of criminal procedure
• Everyone who is charged with an offence has, in relation to the
determination of the charge, the following minimum rights:
• (a) the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and
impartial court:
• (b) the right to be tried without undue delay:
• (c) the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty
according to law:
• (d) the right not to be compelled to be a witness or to confess
guilt:
• (e) the right to be present at the trial and to present a
defence:
• (f) the right to examine the witnesses for the prosecution and to
obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses for the defence
under the same conditions as the prosecution:
• (g) the right, if convicted of an offence in respect of which the
penalty has been varied between the commission of the offence and
sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser penalty:
• (h) the right, if convicted of the offence, to appeal according
to law to a higher court against the conviction or against the
sentence or against both:
• (i) the right, in the case of a child, to be dealt with in a
manner that takes account of the child’s age.

By way of OIA please advise why the New Zealand bill of rights does
not conform to the universal declaration of human rights and
explain why do people in the civil jurisdiction and family courts
do not have the right to “full equality to a fair and public
hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the
determination of his rights and obligations ”

and Why section 25 only provides for people charged with an offence
and not for any one appearing in court in civil/ family
jurisdictions

This is particularly important to me as a claim of defamation was
filed agaisnt me , my defense of truth and honest opinion were
struck out because I failed to get $12,000 with a two week period
and the matter went straight to quantum . The issue involved being
a whistle blower on a matter of serious government corruption where
law enforcement powers were given to a fictional organization .

additionally

In family court every day people are denied a public hearing as
these hearings are conducted behind closed doors and through the
medium of confidentiality .

Please provide all discussion papers and documents which consider
the bill of rights and the obligations to be in line with the
universal declaration of human rights.

Yours faithfully,

Grace Haden

response from Judith Collins

Seeking Help Still Exceedingly Difficult -the Glenn Enquiry

The_Peoples_ReportThe Glenn Inquiry has  just competed its report    which totally conflicts with Transparency Internationals findings   of New Zealand’s  judiciary and  Public sector.

In contrast the Glen  report exposes the  alarming dysfunction in the Family Court which is known to all who use it but  concealed by those who administer it.

This extends to scathing accounts of unprofessional behaviour and poor or sloppy communication and record keeping in courts generally. But mostly the criticism falls
on judges, lawyers and psychologists in the Family Court, which they paint as a hostile environment.

The family court is concealed from  the public  eye by its  confidential nature   and  secretive   decisions.

Those who seek help or get out tell of poorly resourced services and a lack of knowledge and training among key institutions, professionals and agencies, despite pockets of excellence.

In all it makes good reading

The People’s Report

Overview – The People’s Report (PDF, 130KB)

Chairman’s Foreword, Acknowledgement, Preface, Executive Summary, Introduction – The People’s Report (PDF, 550KB)

Section 1 – Honouring their stories, their lives – The People’s Report (PDF, 370KB)

Section 2 – What’s working well – The People’s Report (PDF, 300KB)

Section 3 – What’s not working well – The People’s Report (PDF, 412KB)

Section 4 – Doing things differently, ideas for change – The People’s Report (PDF, 453KB)

Section 5 – Taking Action – The People’s Report (PDF, 313KB)

Section 6 – Appendices (PDF, 186KB)

The People’s Report – the full document (PDF, 1.61MB)

FAQs – The People’s Report (PDF, 139KB)

 

Launching Civil Justice

injustice-101438681

The journey to setting up Civil Justice has been an interesting one ,  and its path can only be seen by looking back through the events and the injustices  which  have come to our attention and  have  put the spotlight on the need for a proactive lobby and support group  for those  who  are in the civil courts.

As a former Police Prosecutor , I believed that our  law was  fair and just , but that was  many  years ago  before privatization and  before the time that New Zealand followed the example of he Unites States and became very litigious.

We now see the ” civil” jurisdiction  being used  for  any thing and every thing , it is  a tool of oppression a method of beating up  and stealing  from people in a manner which  if done without a lawyer would be at the very least robbery.

Robbery is defined as ” theft accompanied by violence or threats of violence, to any person or property, used to extort the property stolen or to prevent or overcome resistance to its being stolen.”

(2) Every one who commits robbery is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.

Assault is defined in section 2 of the crimes act  as “assault means the act of intentionally applying or attempting to apply force to the person of another, directly or indirectly, or threatening by any act or gesture to apply such force to the person of another, if the person making the threat has, or causes the other to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose; and to assault has a corresponding meaning”

so often things are taken  from  people using the court after they have been a good old financial thrashing which has affected their health , in the end the item is  handed over purely on economic grounds  and  to take the  pressure off and the threats that this action could   cost you your house.

And so because of the  lack of  rights of the  civil litigant, the lack of evidence, low standard of proof and the propensity for perjury and using strategy to win we  frequently see instances which would be serious crimes act offences  being  implemented with  the sanction  and assistance of the court.

It has reached the stag where the civil jurisdiction is  used to pervert the course of justice , it  works  extremely well.

Any one who has been  taken to the civil court will soon discover that this court does not hold true to any of the expectations you have of justice  and winning simply depends on how well you are versed with  Sun Tzu  Art of War  and how dirty you are prepared to be. There is apparently no room for conscience or ethics in the  civil Court.

In short the civil jurisdiction is all about strategy and winning at all costs, it is about pitting  those with money agaisnt those  with assets  and forcing one  to surrender to the other.

It is  like gambling  you may have the best hand but if you  don’t have the money to see  the other parties  cards  then  you  lose.

You have no  rights  and no protection  and perjury is  accepted  because no one is held accountable to the truth  and  fabricated evidence is also  acceptable and has  almost become the norm.

The reality is that  our  court system operates on  an antiquated system based on medieval law, there is no accountability to the truth.

Currently the statistics  for perjury  reflect that it sis imply not enforced which means that  truth in our courts  is not a factor.

There are many strategies to winning  and your best chances are to have a lawyer  who owns a race horse with the Judge. Reputation is KING. Being a pleb does not  afford you any rights. Unfortunately most of us are Plebs.

Lawyers are not accountable to the law society  , which appears  to act as  an over protective mother protection them from the accusations that  the nasty clients make rather than making  the lawyers accountable to the rule of law. Experience has taught us that  the over protective mothers frequently  have the most vile children.

Judges  do not have an enforcible code of conduct  and to make a complaint agaisnt a judge  will only have one affect and that is  to  ensure that you remain in the court system for a very long time  and that you will never see justice.

Civil Law must be the greatest money making machine in history , it is being given an over haul  so now is our time to  act .

We are looking for members,  for support, for stories of injustice.

We are wanting to  help set up support groups  so that those with similar issues  can work together.  No one should go through the process alone .

We are wishing to help those in

  • Family court  on  custody matters, relationship property, protection issues and anything else
  • Disputes tribunal
  • Employment Relations Authority
  • District court Civil jurisdiction
  • High court   Insolvency Bankruptcy   and civil jurisdiction

The help we can provide  is  by dispelling the myths  about the court , making you aware  of the strategies which will   come up, puttin you in touch with others  who  have gone through  or going  through the same. the same.

Provide litigation  support   by assisting  with   the provision of case law ,  evidence   and   advice  on  how to instruct your lawyer and which lawyers to avoid.

Assist in making   complaints to the law society and monitoring  complaints .

We will not support any one  who is using the court in an unethical manner   or who  is not  entirely honest.

we hope to  develop into a charity and  have charitable funds available to assist those in need .

But in the end  this  is to be a community  where we all work together  and mutually expose the  unfairness of the justice  system  so that the corrupt  use of the  court can be eliminated.

will you be on board ?