Tough Times for Lawyers, Says Collins

The future was going to tough for criminal lawyers, and family law was also due for a revamp - in particular the Family Court, said Police and Corrections Minister Judith Collins in her address at an Auckland District Law Society Inc (ADLSi) breakfast held at the Northern Club.

The minister also said she believed there were some lawyers who should not be practising and who created embarassment for judges, clients and everyone else when they appeared in court. It was not helpful when the legal profession failed to take a firm stand in such cases.

Ms Collins acknowledged in her speech there had been major changes in the justice sector during the National Party's time in government and said that not all of these had been met with universal acclaim from the legal profession. However, she said that changes to legal aid had been necessary.

There had been a 55 per cent increase in the legal aid budget in a short space of time and that had not been sustainable.Ms Collins said that blowouts in Family Court costs could not be sustained and she believed there were better ways of dealing with issues, particularly for people whose relationships had broken down and who used the court to battle each other."Are there going to be changes if we get in [after the election]? Yes." Ms Collins said that outgoing Justice Minister, Simon Power, had introduced changes to criminal procedure which had yet to be implemented. It was to be expected that these might result in some unintended consequences which would require tweaking.Looking to the future, Ms Collins said that she anticipated more rehabilitation of prisoners, the police freeing up frontline staff for crime prevention work and departments living within their means.

Following her address, Ms Collins answered questions on a variety of topics, including pre-charge warniings, and arming of police. Criminal Bar Association of New Zealand President, Tony Bouchier, said the independent Criminal Bar was facing decimation as a result of the changes made by the Government through major expansion of the Public Defence Service. Ms Collins responded there had been a lot of rorting going on with legal aid, with people who had family trusts receiving grants.She said that Dame Margaret Bazley's review of legal aid "did not make for good reading". It had been a "really bad indictment" of the practices of some practitioners. Ms Collins said it was very important for the legal profession to understand that it did not do anyone any favours by asserting that all was well. New Zealand was the second most lawyered country in the world and there was probably too many students going through law school. Not all of them would obtain work in law.

Ms Collins was introduced at the breakfast by Margaret Malcolm, ADLS Inc Council Member and former ADLS Executive Director, who said the title of "Crusher Collins" bestowed on the minister was a clear affirmation of her determination to deal decisively with the problems confronting New Zealand.Ms Malcolm said that Ms Collins had for many years been "one of us" as a colleague and friend practising law in Auckland. She had always been renowned as being a matter of fact, no-nonsense lawyer who cut to the chase.Ms Malcolm said that it had been no surprise that, when Ms Collins had entered politics, she had quickly moved to the front ranks.In addition to holding the police and corrections portfolios, she also held that of veterans' affairs and had responsibility for the Serious Fraud Office.

"To me, what makes Judith an excellent minister is that she is not afraid to front up to the hard calls."Ms Collins said her past three years had been an exciting time and she had thoroughly enjoyed the work in her ministerial portfolios which she expressed strong enthusiasm for. Speaking about her work as police minister, she said that the latest trust and confidence survery released by the New Zealand Police showed that public confidence in the police had increased from 75 per cent in 2009/10 to 77 per cent in 2010/11.

That increase followed a rise from 69 per cent in 2008/09.Ms Collins said the New Zealand Police now had 600 extra frontline staff. When she had become minister, she had told the police that she wanted them to stop prosecuting people who simply required a night in the cells, to stop harassing people and to treat victims better.Ms Collins said that, in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, reported crime had dropped seven per cent on a per head of population basis.

That fall had followed decreases of 1.3 per cent in the fiscal year to 30 June 2010 and 6.7 per cent in the 2010 calendar year.She said that Counties Manukau, which for many years had been the bane of every police minister's life, had completely turned around. There had been huge drops in crime and these were being sustained."It's because the police are doing their work so much better."

Ms Collins described new Police Commissioner Peter Marshall as an excellent choice and also praised his deputies, stating they had all made real changes in terms of leadership and direction of the police.Ms Collins said that the New Zealand Police faced consistent challenges in managing staffing levels, resources and new techonology. However, it was important to reflect that the police budget of $1.4 billion a year was the same amount as the money spent on early childhood education. Much was done with the police budget.

Source: Law News