Ministry of Justice (New Zealand) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ministry of Justice

Tāhū o te Ture  (Māori)
Ministry overview
Formed	1872; 153 years ago (1872)
Jurisdiction	New Zealand Government
Headquarters	Justice Centre, 19 Aitken St, Wellington, New Zealand
Employees	More than 4,000

The Ministry of Justice (Māori: Te Tāhū o te Ture) is a government department in New Zealand. Its main job is to support the courts and make sure justice works well across the country. It helps create new laws and gives advice to government leaders. The Ministry also works to reduce crime, make communities safer, and help people trust the justice system.

The Ministry runs the court system and helps people get legal aid if they cannot afford a lawyer. It also helps with Treaty of Waitangi claims and runs parliamentary elections.

Who Works at the Ministry?

The Ministry of Justice has thousands of staff members. They work in over 100 different places all around New Zealand. These staff include lawyers, policy experts, and many others. They research justice issues, help with laws, and keep the justice system running every day. Many staff also work in court security and with computer systems.

Justice Sector Leadership Board

The Justice Sector Leadership Board started in 2011. It includes leaders from six main justice groups. These groups are Oranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children), New Zealand Police, the Department of Corrections, the Crown Law Office, and the Serious Fraud Office. This Board helps these groups work together better. Their goal is to improve services for everyone in New Zealand. They also work on budgets for the justice sector.

Strategic Leadership Team

The Strategic Leadership Team has six members. It is led by Andrew Kibblewhite, who is the Secretary for Justice and Chief Executive. This team's main role is to make the Ministry of Justice more modern and efficient. They want to provide better services faster. They are working to improve digital access and services through new technology.

What the Ministry Does

Making Laws Better

The Ministry of Justice has special teams that give legal advice to the government. These teams research and review laws about civil, criminal, and constitutional matters. They also help with important issues related to Treaty of Waitangi negotiations.

These teams also ask the public for their ideas when new laws are being considered. This helps make sure that New Zealanders' opinions are included. The Ministry works with the New Zealand Law Commission, which also gives advice on legal issues. The Law Commission is independent, so it can give unbiased ideas. The Ministry of Justice, however, helps put government policies and laws into action.

Key Projects to Improve Justice

The Ministry of Justice has started several important projects. These projects aim to make the justice system better in New Zealand. They include different programs to help communities and make justice easier to access. Some key projects are:

• Te Ao Mārama: This project wants to make the justice system more welcoming for everyone. It brings community groups into local courts. Te Ao Mārama focuses on making the court experience better, especially for Māori people. It includes cultural understanding and community support in the court process.
• Restorative Justice Programs: These programs bring victims and offenders together. They talk about what happened and how to make things right. Restorative justice helps victims heal and offenders take responsibility.
• Youth Justice Reform: The Ministry is changing how it deals with young people who offend. The goal is to help them learn and get back into society. This aims to stop them from offending again.
• Digital Justice Services: The Ministry is using technology to make justice more accessible. This includes filing legal papers online and having virtual court hearings. These digital services make the justice system more efficient.
• Strengthening the Court System: The Ministry works to make courts run better and faster. This includes reducing delays and improving court buildings. They also provide better support for people using the courts, like victims and witnesses.
• Community Law Services: The Ministry supports community law centers. These centers give free legal advice to people who cannot afford a lawyer.

These projects show the Ministry's commitment to a fair and accessible justice system for all New Zealanders.

Helping the Courts

The Ministry of Justice is unique because it works with all three parts of government: the executive (government leaders), the legislative (lawmakers), and the independent judiciary (courts). It helps most of New Zealand's courts, including the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, 58 District Courts, and others like the Coroners Court and Māori Land Court.

The Ministry provides administrative, technology, and human resources support to the courts. It also helps with training for court staff. The courts also give ideas to the Ministry on how to improve services. The Ministry plays a key role in making sure technology is used fairly in the courts.

Judicial Conduct Panels

The Ministry helps run Judicial Conduct Panels. These panels look into complaints about judges' behavior. A panel can be set up if the Judicial Conduct Commissioner recommends it after an initial check. The panel then investigates the judge's conduct further.

Two members of the panel are judges or retired judges, or one can be a senior lawyer. The third member is not a judge or a lawyer. The case against the judge is presented, similar to a court case. The judge can have a lawyer and appear at the hearing. The panel's hearing can be kept private, like court cases. After the hearing, the panel tells the Attorney-General what they found and if the judge should be removed.

Official Information Requests

New Zealand has an Official Information Act. This law lets citizens ask for official information from the government. This helps people take part in society and hold the government accountable. The Ministry must provide information it holds, reasons for decisions, and details about its policies.

However, information about ongoing court cases cannot be given out due to court privacy rules. The Ministry makes it easy to ask for information using an online form.

Daily Services

The Ministry's website says it provides support services to many courts and tribunals across New Zealand. It also helps with the Waitangi Tribunal. The Ministry helps settle historical claims from the Treaty of Waitangi and manages land for these settlements.

Other services include:

• Legal Aid: The government funds the Ministry to provide free legal help to people who cannot afford a lawyer. This ensures everyone can defend their rights in court. However, legal aid depends on how much money a person has, and some people might have to pay it back. It is available for criminal cases, victims of violence, and family or civil disputes.
• Jury Service: This is a very important part of the legal system. When a case goes to trial, 12 people are chosen randomly from the local area to be on the jury. They listen to the evidence and decide if the accused person is guilty or not guilty. People who work in the justice system, like police officers or Ministry staff, cannot be on a jury.
• Waitangi Tribunal: This Tribunal was set up in 1975. It listens to claims from Māori people who believe their rights under the Treaty of Waitangi have been broken. These claims are about government policies, laws, or actions that have harmed Māori rights. If a claim is accepted, the Tribunal makes a recommendation to the government. The government does not have to follow these recommendations, but sometimes it does.

How Justice is Funded

The justice sector in New Zealand includes law enforcement, courts, prisons, and support services. It needs a lot of money to operate and keep law and order. The justice sector gets its money from the national budget each year. This funding supports the New Zealand Police, the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Corrections, the courts, legal aid, and services for victims of crime.

The New Zealand Police receives a large part of this funding. This covers salaries, equipment, training, and daily operations. For example, in the 2022/2023 financial year, the police received about NZ$2.1 billion. The courts also receive significant funding to operate efficiently. In the same period, the courts received around NZ$600 million. This money helps pay for judges, court staff, and case management systems.

The Department of Corrections manages prisons and community sentences. It was given about NZ$1.4 billion in 2022/2023. Legal aid, which helps people afford lawyers, received about NZ$180 million. Victim support services were allocated around NZ$50 million.

Rising crime rates and the need for new technology are increasing budget pressures. Future plans include using different ways to solve problems, like restorative justice, and using technology in courts to save money and improve efficiency.

Current Ministers

The Ministry serves 5 areas and 4 ministers.

See also

• Law of New Zealand
• New Zealand Law Commission
• Legal Aid in New Zealand