Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The Solicitor-General has backtracked on new prosecution guidelines released this week asking judges and lawyers to "think carefully" about how Māori are impacted by the criminal justice system.
In a statement sent today, Solicitor-General Una Jagose KC says she "missed the mark" after looking at public commentary on the new guidelines.
"I can be clearer, and it's important to get this right to avoid public uncertainty or misunderstanding.
"I have therefore taken down the guidelines, while I review the introduction and the rest of the guidance for clarity and consistency.
"My intention is that this process will be completed promptly, and I will republish the guidelines in time for them to come into effect as scheduled from 1 January 2025."
In the document released earlier this week, Jagose said her office had reviewed the guidelines to understand how decisions might contribute to the disproportionate criminal justice outcomes for Māori.
"It is well documented that the criminal justice system delivers disproportionately adverse results for Māori, who are overrepresented as both victims and defendants."
The updated guidelines drew the ire of lobby group Hobson's Pledge, who said the new guidelines were the equivalent of a "get of jail free card" for Māori.
"Ethnicity or whether or not one has a Māori ancestor should not be a factor in deciding to charge someone who has committed a crime. That is a separatist system."
That was refuted by Wellington-based barrister Julia Spelman (Ngāti Hikairo ki Kāwhia) who told RNZ a good way to describe the guidelines was as "best practice," not "rules".
"They're not binding on prosecutors and part of the reason for that is it applies to a really broad range of prosecutors. So it's got the Crown prosecution firms who undertake prosecution of serious crime as well as police prosecutors, but also all sorts of different regulatory prosecutors across a whole range.
"It's a very different situation for those different types of prosecutors. The guidelines are just that ... guidelines, they can't be enforced."
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