The changes have been rolled out across the country’s courts
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The Ministry of Justice has changed its restorative justice referral process in the District Courts.
The ministry notified the New Zealand Law Society of the changes earlier this week, when they were implemented across the courts. The ministry said that it was standardising the referral process.
“The new process has been designed with the judiciary and endorsed by the Chief District Court Judge. It is based on processes that are already working well in some courts,” the ministry told the Law Society.
The following changes were outlined in the ministry’s notice to the Law Society:
- Defence counsel need to provide contact details for the defendant while in court (or before) via a standard form.
- The main source of victim contact information is the initial form sent to the court from the officer in charge. Prosecution counsel are not required to provide victim information to the court.
- Restorative justice providers will have a standing request for summary of facts and criminal conviction history that the judicial officer will decide to release when directing a case to restorative justice.
Questions should be addressed to local courts or via email to [email protected], the ministry said.
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