Summarised by Centrist
Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong says her party is considering raising the age at which offenders are dealt with through the youth justice system.
“It could be raised in line with behavioural science, potentially to around age 20,” Wong said.
Wong said placing older teenagers and young adults in the adult justice system could increase the risk of continued offending.
“If you’ve got 17- to 19-year-olds going through the adult justice system and getting locked up, they’re far more likely to reoffend and then, you know, spend their lives in prison, which ultimately just costs the taxpayer more money,” she said.
“We believe in more rehabilitative, restorative justice approaches.”
An archived version of the party’s policy promised to raise Youth Court jurisdiction to 25, citing developmental science. The current version still promises to raise the age, but no longer tells voters what the new limit would be.
The change followed criticism from National campaign chairman Simeon Brown, who cited the policy as evidence that Opportunity was not a centrist party.
“That is a radical policy, and that is not something the National Party supports,” Brown said.
Chris Lynch Media says the party did not answer two requests to clarify whether 25 remains its policy, when the wording changed or why the number was removed.
The policy forms part of Opportunity’s wider law and justice platform, which also includes decriminalising drug possession while retaining criminal penalties for supplying drugs.
Wong did not confirm a final proposed age or explain which offenders and offences would remain subject to the adult courts.
New Zealand’s minimum age of criminal responsibility is currently 10, meaning a child under 10 cannot be convicted of an offence. However, children aged 10 or 11 can generally be prosecuted only for murder or manslaughter, while special restrictions also apply to 12- and 13-year-olds. Wong’s comments concern extending youth justice to older offenders rather than removing criminal responsibility.
Read more over at Chris Lynch Media, Opportunity’s current policy and LawNews
