Summarised by Centrist
The updated Solicitor-General Prosecution Guidelines, published on 1 October 2024, aim to address the overrepresentation of Māori in the criminal justice system.
It states: “The guidelines ask prosecutors to think carefully about particular decisions where a person (whether the victim or the defendant) is Māori, or a member of any other group that is disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system.”
Elsewhere it notes: “Because prosecutors have an influential part to play in the criminal justice system, they should recognise their decisions may contribute to the well-documented disproportionately adverse system impacts, for Māori in particular.”
Despite claims: “This does not promote different treatment based on ethnicity or membership of a particular group,” some worry this approach could undermine equal treatment under the law by offering special considerations based on race.
KiwiBlog publishes comments from a reader who writes:
“As a defence lawyer, when advocating for my clients it will now be logical for me to include in my emails to the prosecution something like ‘I note that my client is Māori and therefore consideration must be given to the new Solicitor-General’s guidelines when deciding whether it is appropriate to continue with this prosecution.’”
