Crimes Amendment Bill (No.2) introduced

Minister of Justice Simon Power introduced the Crimes Amendment Bill (No2) to Parliament on Tuesday 12th April 2011.

The bill will:

• Create a new offence of failure to protect a child or vulnerable adult from the risk of death, grievous bodily harm, or sexual assault as a consequence of the unlawful act by third party or failure of third party to perform a legal duty. Failure to take reasonable steps to protect a child or vulnerable adult, knowing they were at risk, would result in charges with a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment. A parent or person over 18 may be found liable if he or she is:

- A member of the same household as the victim.

- Does not live in the same household but is so closely connected with it that they are regarded as a member of it.

- A staff member of a hospital, institution, or residence where the victim lives.

• Double the maximum penalty for cruelty to a child from five years to 10 years' imprisonment. This offence, which deals with ill-treatment and neglect, has also been extended to include vulnerable adults (this relates to those who are in care because of their age, detention, sickness, or mental impairment).
• Extend a legal duty on parents and caregivers who currently have a duty to provide the necessaries of life to take reasonable steps to also protect a child or vulnerable adult from injury. Breach of this duty will be punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

• Amend the offence of sexual grooming
The offence of sexual grooming of young people in the Crimes Act does not currently support prosecution in situations where the sexual grooming has been discovered through covert police investigations. The effect of the amendment will be to allow a person to be prosecuted with the offence of sexual grooming in circumstances where the person believes they are sexually grooming a person under 16 years old and takes some action to meet the young person, when in fact they are grooming a constable posing as a young person. This belief-based offence is similar to comparable offences in New South Wales and Queensland.

• Amend the maximum penalty for possession of an offensive weapon
As part of the Government’s package to tackle the emerging knife crime problem the maximum penalty for possession of an offensive weapon will be increased from two years to three years' imprisonment. This brings the penalty in line with the penalty for possession of burglary instruments. The Government proposes to retain the current legislative requirement that a sentence of imprisonment must be imposed for second convictions within two years for possession of an offensive weapon. The Cabinet paper on knife crime can be found here.

• Clarify the scope of the ‘claim of right’ defence
The Solicitor-General recommended that the Government review the ‘claim of right’ defence after serious questions were raised about it being used in the Waihopai 3 sabotage case. The amendment will limit the defence to circumstances where the defendants believe they have a personal right to the property concerned. The amendment is consistent with the purpose of the ‘claim of right’ defence at common law and is similar to the approach taken by some overseas jurisdictions. The Ministry of Justice’s advice on the claim of right reform options, and the Cabinet paper, can be accessed via this link: http://tinyurl.com/3dr7yyu

The Cabinet paper and a table of penalty levels can be viewed via this link: http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/c/crimes-ame... .

For the full press release visit http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/govt-fast-tracks-moves-further-protec...

Several national organisations have responded to the Crimes Amendment bill with press releases available below:

Te Kupenga – the National Network of Stopping Violence ‘New anti abuse law may penalize women’ - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1104/S00183/new-anti-abuse-laws-may-pen...

ECPAT – ‘Support for new measures on child abuse’ - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1104/S00179/support-for-new-measures-on...

Plunket – ‘Plunket has reservations about proposed amendments to crimes act’ - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1104/S00198/plunket-reservations-about-...

New Zealand Nursing Organisation - ‘Law change will have little impact on abuse’ http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1104/S00177/law-change-will-have-little...

Child Matters – ‘Child abuse prevention agency welcomes changes to bill’ http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1104/S00174/child-abuse-prevention-agen...