court reform
It 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
The 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)
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 ?