In all of our courts, we endeavour to provide timely, quality decisions to everyone who appears. This is particularly so for those whose liberty is at risk.
The first court that considers whether people charged with crimes will be held in prison until their case is finalised is the District Court. Those responsible for making that first decision will be either District Court judges, judicial Justices of the Peace or Community Magistrates.
Community Magistrates (CMs) have operated in North Island courts for almost 20 years. In October 2016, our North Island CMs began sitting in Christchurch courts. Late in 2018, Christchurch-based CMs were appointed for the first time.
Although deciding to grant or decline requests for bail is an important part of CMs’ work, our job doesn’t end there. We accept pleas, sentence offenders on less serious matters and conduct the general business of the District Court as does any other judicial officer, while freeing up judges to deal with more complex matters such as trials.
“When people ask for the court’s understanding because of the stress of living through events that affect local communities, CMs are expected to evaluate those requests as members of that local community”
Since then, as the resident South Island CMs, we have expanded the operation of CM courts beyond Christchurch to include Greymouth, Ashburton, Timaru, Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown. We now sit in these centres regularly, while Blenheim is serviced by a Wellington-based CM.
But there are some other important differences. CMs, unlike judges, do not need to be trained as lawyers. Fewer than half of New Zealand’s 18 CMs were lawyers before sitting on the bench. Also, CMs work part-time. This means that the “community” part of a CM’s title is very important.
Part of the reason for appointing people with local ties to decision-making roles is so that our courts of first call understand local issues.
One of us experienced the Christchurch earthquakes with our family and the other has lived in Christchurch since mid-2015. Both of us were in Christchurch when the mosque shootings of March 15, 2019 unfolded. We have brought those and other life experiences with us to the bench.
When people ask for the court’s understanding because of the stress of living through events that affect local communities, CMs are expected to evaluate those requests as members of that local community. Whether it is the variety of cultures and languages encountered in Manukau or the high number of tourists in Queenstown, every community served by our CMs has a profile of its own. Adapting to those differences is part of the challenge for CMs.
Having our number drawn from those very communities helps us meet that challenge every day — and now our small group does it from Kaitaia to Invercargill.
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