legal lowdown newsletter#27
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LEGAL LOWDOWN
ISSUE
27
September 2015
2 Victims Code & Family Violence 3
Employment Law Minimum Rights
LEGAL INFORMATION ANIMATIONS
In collaboration with Auckland Community Law Centre and
students from the Unitec Institute of Technology, we were able
to develop some legal information animations for distribution to
the public. Animation topics include family mediation, clean slate
scheme, no asset procedures and employment entitlements, just
to name a few.
We were pleased to have been invited to participate in this
mentoring opportunity. Keep an eye out on our online and writ-
ten media as we will be posting the animations up for everyone
to see.
Michael Davis, 2nd year Unitec Graphic design and animation
student outlines his experience working on this project:
“I chose to engage in this project as I really enjoyed the idea of help-
ing the community or people who are not sure what type of legal help
is out there for them to seek...
4 STATISTICS Convictions 5 Māori Law Conference
LEGAL INFORMATION ANIMATIONS Unitec design students develop legal info animations
...The community law centres are an awesome team who help peo-
ple and give free legal advice and as a student that really appealed
to me. Helping the community is something that can’t really be
beat as to how I felt after having the task complete. I just hope that
what I have created will indefinitely help people in the future to
seek help and know that it is out there.
My future aspirations as a student is to indeed create a future
based around design, throughout this course I wasn’t too satisfied
with animation as a career but after the years and being taught by
the lecturers that I have had i really feel like anything is possible for
me at this moment. It all comes down to the effort and knowledge I
choose to put into what I create. But yes, design is definitely my
chosen career path at this point.
I love being able to create something from just a vision a person
has had, or a business then coming back to them in future days or
weeks with the product and seeing the pleasing smile on there face.
It is really what has made me solidify design work as my hopeful
career.”
Cover design: Adam Bradley (animation shot)
2
Justice Minister, Amy Adams has announced new Court rules
regarding the sharing of information pertaining to family vio-
lence victims and defendants between the family and criminal
courts, to support Judges' decisions in relation to family vio-
lence.
Under the new rules Judges will have access to affidavits,
victim impact statements and summaries of facts from family
violence proceedings that weren’t previously available, to
them.
The changes were introduced as approximately 1200 people
who have had a protection order made against them in the
Family Court were also involved in family violence related
proceedings in the Criminal Court.
In support of the new changes the Justice Minister said:
"Bail decisions are critical in family violence cases because the
victim is well known to the perpetrator. In a random crime,
there is some degree of anonymity, but in family violence, the
perpetrator usually knows exactly where the victim lives, and
potentially their daily schedule as well. Giving judges a clear
picture of a defendant’s previous pattern of family violence
offending when they are making bail decisions is another way
to help protect victims from further harm."
The new information sharing rules follow the recent an-
nouncement of a pilot programme in the Porirua and Christ-
church District Courts. This provides Judges and Registrars
with a Family Violence Summary Report which details a de-
fendant's recorded family violence incidents, Police Safety
Orders and Protection Orders, including any breaches.
For more information on these rule changes please see the
beehive website.
Source: Beehive and Family Violence Clearinghouse
Family Violence information sharing
© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 2
victims code
On 19 September 2015, Justice Minister, Amy announced the
launch of a new Victims Code as part of a Government initiative
to provide better support to victims of crime.
The code sets out the following principles that people or organi-
sations should follow in order to promote victim rights:
Principle 1: Safety Principle 2: Respect Principle 3: Dignity and privacy Principle 4: Fair treatment Principle 5: Informed choice Principle 6: Quality services Principle 7: Communication Principle 8: Feedback
In addition to the above principles, the code also formally sets
out the rights of victims of crime. While the principles apply to
all victims, the rights only apply to victims of crimes reported to
the police or before the Courts. The following rights apply to
crimes reported to the police or before the courts:
Right 1: To be given information about programmes, remedies and services
Right 2: To be given information about investigation and criminal proceedings
Right 3: To make a victim impact statement Right 4: To express your views on name suppression Right 5: To speak official languages in court Right 6: To get back property held by the state
In addition to the abovementioned rights, victims of serious
crimes have the following rights:
Right 7: To be informed about bail and express your views Right 8: To receive information and notifications after
sentencing Right 9: To have a representative receive notifications Right 10: To make a submission relating to parole or
extended supervision orders
In addition to the abovementioned rights, victims of a crime
committed by a child or young person has the following right:
Right 11: Family group conferences
Victims still have all other rights as provided for under laws such
as the Human Rights Act 1993 and the New Zealand Bill of
Rights Act 1990.
For more information, see the Victims Information website
Source: Ministry of Justice
help line:
Family Violence
0800 456 450
111 emergency:
3 © CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 3
STUDENT SURVIVAL KIT: EMPLOYMENT LAW 101
WAIKATO - TAINUI
CONNECTIONS
Maintaining our relationship with local Mana Whenua
is important to us. Attending the annual coronation
celebrations of King Tuheitia allows us to maintain
these connections.
This year, our lawyer Wi Pere Mita attended the coro-nation celebrations at Tūrangawaewae Marae,
Ngāruawāhia. It was an opportunity for him to touch
base with local Māori and the Kīngitanga.
With the end of year approaching, the next generation of
school leavers will be taking their first steps into adulthood.
This means, for most, moving out of Mum and Dad’s home
and going flatting (see last month’s newsletter for tenancy
rights and obligations). This also means finding a job to pay
your rent, utilities and other expenses.
There is a lot to know about getting your first job. This arti-
cle sets out minimum wage entitlements.
MINIMUM WAGE
The minimum wage is the lowest amount a boss can pay a
worker for the work they do during their employment.
There are different categories of minimum wage as follows:
Minimum wage for a “starting-out worker” or trainee work-
er is $11.80 an hour (before tax).
You are a starting our worker if:
you’re 16 or 17, and you’re yet to complete six months’ em-
ployment with your current employer
you’re 18 or 19 and you’ve been on a benefit for six months
or more, and you’ve yet to complete six months’ employment
with any single employer since you starting getting the benefit,
or
you’re 16, 17, 18 or 19, and you’re doing at least 40 credits a
year of industry training as part of your employment agree-
ment.
You are a trainee worker if:
you’re aged 20 or older, and
you’re doing at least 60 credits a year of industry training as
part of your employment agreement.
The adult minimum wage is $14.75 an hour (before tax,) for
anyone over 16 years that is not covered by the starting out
worker wage or the trainee worker wage.
MINIMUM WAGE EXEMPTION PERMIT
The Labour Inspector has the power to issue a minimum
wage exemption permit that allows an employer to pay an
employee less than the minimum wage. This, however, is
only reserved for employees with a disability that significantly
affects their job performance.
In order for an exemption permit to be granted the Labour
Inspector must be satisfied that the issuing such permit is
reasonable and appropriate.
A wage rate under an exemption will be based upon an em-
ployees ability to do their job.
For more information about minimum wages please see the
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website.
4
STATISTICS: NUMBER OF ADULTS CONVICTED IN NZ
“it is against the law to
breach copyright in New
Zealand”
“the District Court has
the power to fin up to
$150,000”
© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 4
Sentence 2015 2014 2013 % Total 2015
Life 30 39 23 0.0%
Preventive Detention 14 7 11 0.0%
Imprisonment 7132 7105 7842 10.8%
Home Detention 2771 2774 3004 4.2%
Community Detention 4513 4773 5513 6.8%
Intensive Supervision 1579 1284 1301 2.4%
Community Work, corrections
16,704 17,705 19,444 25.3%
Supervision by Community Corrections
2864 2725 3120 4.3%
Fine 19,499 22,254 24,746 29.5%
Reparation, Restitution 3432 3585 3800 5.2%
Disqualification from Driving
810 820 863 1.2%
Other 2336 2628 2959 3.5%
Conviction & Discharge 4318 4568 5211 6.5%
Total 66,002 70,267 77,837 100.0%
Year ending 30 June 2015
Source: New Zealand Law Society
Arranged by sentence type and seriousness of offence
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NGĀ TAKE MĀORI Issues affecting Māori communities
© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected]
Te Hunga Roia Māori: Māori Law Conference at Waitangi I tēnei marama I tu te Hunga Roia Māori hei whakakao I te
hunga Māori e mahi ana I te ao ture—mai I ngā pūkenga ture o
roto I ngā Whare Wananga, ki ngā roia Māori tae atu ki ngā
tauira e ako ana I te ture.
We were pleased to attend this year’s Māori Law Confer-
ence hosting at Waitangi. The conference was also attended
by other lawyers, members of the judiciary, legal academics
and law students. The theme of the conference was ‘stand at
the stern of the canoe and feel the spray of the future biting
at your face’. Underpinning the main theme was the sub-
themes which included Te Tiriti (the Treaty), Hauora
(Health) and Whanaungatanga (networking or relationship
building).
Community Law was also invited to address the conference
as keynote speakers. Our Community Law panelists were
Paula Bold-Wilson (Waitematā Community Law Centre),
Desiree Williams (Ngai Tahu Māori Law Centre) and Robyn
Rauna (CLCA Board Member). The panel spoke about the
services provided by Community Law Centres around New
Zealand and the need for sustainable funding and pro-bono
support from the legal fraternity in order to ensure that
Community Law continues to deliver its services.
Some of the other conference speakers covered pertinent
topics such as incorporating tikanga into contracts, the Te
Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 reforms, protecting waahi
tapu and of course, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Wai-
tangi).
Community Legal Services South Trust would like to thank
and congratulate Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa and the
organising committee for a very successful conference.
7
UPCOMING
SESSIONS
We currently have 2 on-air legal information slots which
are part of our preventative services. We provide these
services every Wednesday. Each week we look at a dif-
ferent area of law. The details of our on-air services are as
follows:
Planet FM: Kiribati Voice, from 1:00pm
Radio 531pi: Pacific Drive Time, from 2:00pm
To listen to our on-air services, tune in, live via the links
below:
© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 7
education statistics
480 people participated in our legal
education sessions
this month
27 legal education sessions delivered this month
Legal Education
LEGAL EDUCATION Our legal education sessions are part of our preventative
services which aim to reduce the number of legal disputes
occurring in our communities.
Through our legal education services, we seek to inform,
and educate the community on their legal rights and re-
sponsibilities in relation to various legal topics.
It is also an opportunity for individuals to ask questions
about specific areas of law they may not understand.
For more information on our Legal Education sessions
and to download/view our education booklet visit the
education tab on our website or contact us on (09) 274
4966
Legal information
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Otara
CLSST Office
120 Bairds Road
Otara Appointments available:
Monday – Friday
Manukau Salvation Army
16B Bakerfield Place
Manukau
Appointments available:
Monday-Friday
Papakura
Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau
4a Opaheke Road
Papakura
Appointments available:
Thursday
Pukekohe
6A Rouslton Street
Pukekohe
Appointments available:
Fortnightly on Tuesday
Manurewa
Manurewa Marae
81 Finlayson Ave
Manurewa
Appointments available:
Wednesday
OUTREACH CLINICS: Our Community
TE MATA LAW:
7 October 2015
BENNION LAW:
4 November 2015
A free Māori Land Advisory Clinic provided in partnership with the Te Mata Law, Bennion Law and
Manurewa Marae, (First Wednesday of every month - by appointment only). Below are the dates for the
2015 Māori Land Advisory Clinics:
CLINIC DETAILS:
Manurewa Marae
81 Finlayson Ave
MANUREWA
30mins appointments
from 10am -1pm
For more information or to book an appointment (with a lawyer) contact
Wi Pere Mita: (09) 274 4966 or [email protected]
MAORI LAND CLINIC FREE MAORI LAND ADVICE
© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 8