Policy and Advocacy: Criminal justice

Your search found Results 1 - 10 of 16:

Should New Zealand introduce drug courts?

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

As part of its review of New Zealand’s Misuse of Drugs Act, the Law Commission has recommended drug courts be trialled in New Zealand.

Drug courts - there is a better way

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

by Gerald Waters.

When the judge read out the driver’s previous offending history before sentencing, it just went on and on. Caught three times, four times, caught five times… Friends and family members gasped in horror at the number of times he had been convicted and then cyclically reoffended… On and on the judge read. Caught 10 times… The reporters in court, I noticed, had stopped writing and were looking at each other and us in shock.

Smoking bans in prisons - do they work?

Monday, November 22, 2010

From 1 July 2011, a total smoking ban for prisoners will come into effect across New Zealand. Sanji Gunasekara looks at the government’s rationale behind this move, the evidence for its effectiveness and what such a ban might actually mean.

Moving on MODA: a proposed new approach to personal possession

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Law Commission is considering submissions on Controlling and Regulating Drugs – its issues paper on the reform of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. Sanji Gunasekara outlines some key points from the Drug Foundation’s submission about a new approach to personal possession of drugs.

Controlling and Regulating Drugs - an issues paper on the reform of New Zealand's drug laws

Thursday, April 29, 2010

The Drug Foundation has published its submission to the Law Commission's issues paper - "Controlling and Regulating Drugs" - on the reform of New Zealand’s drug laws.

Our comments on this report are influenced by our guiding principles, including a commitment to evidence-based best practice and policy, and harm minimisation. Information about the Drug Foundation is appended to this submission.

The point of prison needle exchange

Friday, November 27, 2009

“Give needles to inmates” was the Dominion Post’s provocative headline when reporting on our “Alcohol and other drugs in the criminal justice system” policy, and a proposed Australian prison needle exchange has just been sunk after media controversy.

Drug law and the Youth Court

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The connection between youth offending and drug and alcohol use cannot be denied, contends Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft, and this is a non-negotiable source of concern for the courts. While dealing with young offenders’ drug and alcohol issues is complex, requiring a whole-of-community approach, judges must uphold their duty to eliminate illegal drug use by young people.

Children, Young Persons, and their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The New Zealand Drug Foundation supports the intention of the bill to acknowledge the multiple needs of youth offenders and their families and whanau by both extending the jurisdiction of the youth court and strengthening and expanding the orders available to youth courts in order to provide  more effective treatment and rehabilitation services.

The ultimate price: The death penalty for drug offences

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Over the course of two weeks in November 2007, Vietnamese courts condemned 35 people to death for drug related offences [1]. It was such a flurry of death sentences that even the media became interested after having ignored the issue for so long.

Hard time hard numbers

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Exactly how much do problems with alcohol and other drugs contribute to crime? And how do we know? We thought it was a good opportunity to bust a myth – or at least take a closer look at the numbers in our own recent story.