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Speaker 1: Now the government on something else, wants to reduce the

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Speaker 1: number of jury trials, basically to be able to get

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Speaker 1: through the backlock in the court system. Government's proposing to

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Speaker 1: increase the offense threshold at which are defendant is able

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Speaker 1: to have a jury trial. Currently, you have to be

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Speaker 1: charged with a crime that carries a maximum penalty of

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Speaker 1: two years or more in prison than you can elect

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Speaker 1: for a jury trial. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith.

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Speaker 2: Is with us. Now, Hey, Paul, good ay, how are.

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Speaker 1: You going well? Thank you? So your alternatives to two

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Speaker 1: years are three years, five years and seven years. What's

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Speaker 1: your preference?

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Speaker 2: I actually don't have a preference at this stage. My

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Speaker 2: main concern is that too many people are having their

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Speaker 2: lives put on a hold for years, waiting for an

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Speaker 2: outcome of a court case or for a civil case,

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Speaker 2: you know, waiting for a resolution to their problems. That

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Speaker 2: the times have blown out. COVID obviously had a role,

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Speaker 2: but it's been you know, it's been too slow for

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Speaker 2: too long, and so I've got a real focus on

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Speaker 2: trying to speed up processes of the courts and we're

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Speaker 2: pulling many leavers, trying many different things. One of the

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Speaker 2: things that has driven the out in times has been

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Speaker 2: more people electing for jury trials, and so we're just

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Speaker 2: asking the question going out for consultration to say, well,

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Speaker 2: it's said at two years currently, what do people think

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Speaker 2: about three years, five years, or seven years.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm surprised actually at the two years thing, because

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Speaker 1: that's some pretty low level crimes that basically qualify you

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Speaker 1: for a jury.

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Speaker 2: Right, that's right. I mean, obviously it takes a lot

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Speaker 2: long cost. So I mean, it'll just give you an idea.

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Speaker 2: The average duration of the case has gone from three

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Speaker 2: hundred and fifty days, so nearly a year, to nearly

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Speaker 2: five hundred days.

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Speaker 1: Weldom that's not like, that's not the duration of the trial.

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Speaker 1: That's right from first appearance all the way through to

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Speaker 1: the conclusion, right.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, but I mean it's a long

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Speaker 2: drawn out process. So yeah, I mean, I think it's

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Speaker 2: a reasonable question to ask there will be arguments around

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Speaker 2: three years, five years or seven years. Seven years would

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Speaker 2: be a big change, and it would certainly have a

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Speaker 2: huge impact on the overall efficiency of the court. But

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Speaker 2: of course you've got to balance that against you know,

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Speaker 2: the ancient right, and so I think, you know, I

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Speaker 2: don't it'll be an interesting discussion. I certainly I think

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Speaker 2: we should lift it. It's just a question of how far.

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Speaker 1: What kind of a crime are we talking about that

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Speaker 1: carry seven years in jail?

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Speaker 2: Well, things like tax evasion yeah, and as in assault yeares,

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Speaker 2: and so five years for thinking of things like aggravated assault,

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Speaker 2: and three years it would be things like you know,

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Speaker 2: driving well disqualified with the excess breath alcohol.

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Speaker 1: So you should go for a jury if you've just

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Speaker 1: been pin boozing behind the web.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so if you if you lift it to three years,

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Speaker 2: you're excluding bose and so yeah, I think that's a

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Speaker 2: very reasonable starting point. And the further you go on.

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Speaker 1: Didn't you just say didn't you just say? Though boozing

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Speaker 1: being disqualified is three years in the slammer.

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Speaker 2: If we lifted it to three years, it's a maximum

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Speaker 2: of two years. If we lifted it to three years,

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Speaker 2: they would be excluded and you wouldn't have the opportunity

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Speaker 2: for a jury trial.

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Speaker 1: Yeah too, right, all right. Now, your other problem though,

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Speaker 1: is if we go okay, we're not going to have jurism.

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Speaker 1: We need judges. We're short on judges, aren't we.

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Speaker 2: Well, well, you still need to judge for a jury trial,

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Speaker 2: it's a much more drawn out brea.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's true, that is true. You just you're basically

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Speaker 1: double parts there, aren't you with a jury and a judge.

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Speaker 1: But you're still going to get some judge. You're going

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Speaker 1: to need some judges, aren't you.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yep, yep, yep. But yeah, just just just for context.

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Speaker 2: You know, my three priorities as Justice Minister is about

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Speaker 2: dealing with reducing the number of victims of violent crime,

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Speaker 2: dealing with that small group of serious youth of things.

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Speaker 2: And then the third one is the broader systemic challenge

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Speaker 2: of spitting up the processes of thoughts now and that's

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Speaker 2: the family brought to the coroners of everything where you know,

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Speaker 2: too many and being held up. So you know, that's

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Speaker 2: the priorities. And a billion other things I could be doing,

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Speaker 2: could be, you know, reducing the voting age of sixteen

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Speaker 2: and doing all sorts of ney things like the previous

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Speaker 2: government did. I'm not. I'm focused on these core things

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Speaker 2: because I think the other things that really matter.

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Speaker 1: How are you going with your gang patch band?

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Speaker 2: Well, just part of it's just passing it right now,

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Speaker 2: so it will be in law and it will take

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Speaker 2: effect from November, and so police will be able to

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Speaker 2: have some more tools in their kit to handle the

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Speaker 2: gangs that are coursing so much mayhem And how can.

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Speaker 1: You you're still got that bit in there where we're

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Speaker 1: going to crack down on them in the house.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, well that's right. And so that's just for gangs.

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Speaker 2: If you've got a gang patch and you've been convicted

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Speaker 2: three times more than five years for flouting the van,

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Speaker 2: then you're facing escalating consequences and that's pretty uncomfortable, but

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Speaker 2: we think it's appropriate.

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Speaker 1: Paul, thank you, appreciate your time. Man, look after yourself.

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Speaker 1: That's Paul Goldsmith, who is the Justice Minister. Raises announced

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Speaker 1: his new squad and I'll tell you what he's chopping

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Speaker 1: and changing all over the shop. So we'll talk to

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Speaker 1: Darcy Waldgrave about that very shortly. Are you going to

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Speaker 1: see some new official vehicles on the road? Love me

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Speaker 1: an official vehicle? Hey, don't you pothole vans? Actually this

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Speaker 1: feels this feels like efficiency. I feel like this is efficiency.

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Speaker 1: Simeon's rolling out five pothole vans. Now, what they're going

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Speaker 1: to do is they're going to drive around the country

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Speaker 1: filming to see the wear and tear on the roads

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Speaker 1: and which bits of the road needs to be patched

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Speaker 1: up and stuff. Now you've got to say that that's

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Speaker 1: a smarter idea than having punters just drive around in

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Speaker 1: the car going, let me see with my own little eyes. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: oh there's one. Hold on, let's get out and let's

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Speaker 1: have a look at that prod that a little bit,

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Speaker 1: you know, you can see that a pothole van is

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Speaker 1: going to is just this is This is technology and action.

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Speaker 1: There'll be five of them. One's going to be in

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Speaker 1: Auckland and Northland. One's going to cover the central North Island.

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Speaker 1: One's going to be in the lower North Island also

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Speaker 1: top of the South is and we're catching a ferry

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Speaker 1: a fair But the fourth one's going to do the

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Speaker 1: rest of the South and South Island. And then they're

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Speaker 1: going to have a backup van as well. And every road,

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Speaker 1: every sealed road has to be inspected at least once

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Speaker 1: every two years, and every high maintenance roads in like

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Speaker 1: a high class road they call it high class. That's

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Speaker 1: going to have to be done every year. I'm on

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Speaker 1: board with this, whatever it takes to get the old

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Speaker 1: potholes fixed. I love it quarter past

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