7 Oct 2020

Māori Party pledges overhaul of 'broken' justice system

10:00 am on 7 October 2020

The Māori Party would overhaul the justice system and set up a $100 million Māori Legal Aid / Legal Defence Service to "protect Māori from the Crown".

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Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Party spokesperson Donna Pokere-Phillips says it is well known that the current system is broken and that governments have failed to act on the criminalisation of Māori.

"We will keep calling this breach of our Tiriti o Waitangi agreements out until we get sovereignty back," she says.

The Māori Party would:

  • Establish a fund for a Māori Restorative Justice System
  • Replace punitive measures embedded within the current criminal justice system with a system of restorative justice and focus on rehabilitation
  • Amend racist laws, legal and policing processes that have the net effect of incarcerating innocent Māori

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