Media Statement Regarding Defunding of Section 27 Passed Under Urgency
The Asian Legal Network is disappointed by the government defunding section 27 “cultural reports” under urgency through the Legal Services Amendment Act 2024. This repeal will likely make Asian communities more unsafe, and Asian communities should have been consulted.
We have previously stated the importance of s 27 reports. By removing funding, this repeal will affect the most vulnerable defendants who rely on legal aid, and will have a disproportionate effect on Māori as the Justice Minister acknowledged. We agree with Te Hunga Rōia Māori’s statement that this legislation very likely breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
This move is likely to make our Asian communities more unsafe. Sentencing is less effective when there are barriers to relevant information being put before the Court. This undermines the justice system’s ability to rehabilitate and only exacerbates New Zealand’s incarceration problem in general, and the “prison pipeline” in particular. This ultimately leads to more reoffending and more harm in our communities.
We agree with Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa | New Zealand Law Society that this legislation “strikes at the rights of all to equal access to justice”. This legislation creates a barrier for Asian defendants on legal aid to access s 27 cultural reports. This deprives the Court of information regarding how their cultural circumstances may be relevant to their offending, which would otherwise be available to defendants in a better financial position.
Asian communities were also not given an opportunity to submit on this proposal and its effects on our communities. This was passed under urgency, which bypasses the select committee process. This undermines one of the democratic functions in the parliamentary process available to all citizens.
More generally, we are alarmed by the government's excessive use of urgency in recent months. This undermines the consultative parliamentary process essential to good lawmaking. Communities affected by these repeals have not been afforded the chance to comment on these repeals, which includes Asian communities. The government has also received less expert advice and opinion, which was most evident when Cabinet suspended regulatory impact analyses for proposals that repeal legislation.
The government did not demonstrate how the minimal financial savings to taxpayers of defunding outweighed its obligations under Te Tiriti, its commitment to transparent lawmaking and public consultation, nor its obligations to make our communities safer.
We ask that the government:
release any advice it received regarding how defunding s 27 cultural reports would affect communities, particularly Asian communities, and;
refrain from further repeals that affect Asian communities without consulting with Asian communities.