Page 3958 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 12 December 2006
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The bill also provides for an increase in the powers of the registrars of the Magistrates Court, to bring them into general conformity with the powers of the registrars of the Supreme Court. I consider this to be a welcome initiative, which should reduce costs and facilitate a more speedy resolution to many legal actions and procedures. This bill recognises the qualification and competence of the registrars. Given the fact that the registrars’ decisions are appellable, I feel reassured that the grant of these new powers is appropriate.
The bill also formally recognises the place of the Ngambra circle sentencing court in the sentencing and general justice system. The Ngambra circle sentencing court is an extremely welcome initiative. I congratulate everybody involved in making it one of the most successful responses by the criminal justice system to criminal and antisocial behaviour. It is part of the broader reintegrative shaming and restorative justice project While my comments today are directed at the circle sentencing process, they are also applicable to these other justice initiatives.
I remember a senior police officer being interviewed on TV when the reintegrative shaming project was trialled in the ACT. He obviously had very little idea of what the concept involved. He was big on the shaming part, but did not appreciate that the other integral component was the reintegration process, where the offender is welcomed back as a valued member of society by the people whose opinions and acceptance he or she values. Along with Dr Strang, I urge people to continue to explore ways to encourage offenders, especially youth offenders, to seek and find a sense of belonging and acceptance in the broader community.
Dr Heather Strang gave evidence to the Standing Committee on Education, Training and Young People. She said that it was her opinion that the courts in Canberra worked very well and that they actually worked better than the earlier police run program of restorative justice, which did not suit Aboriginal youth at all.
In order to feel shame, an offender needs to feel a sense of connection with the community whose norms and morals he or she has transgressed. A tough on crime, tough on drug addicts, tough on the homeless and tough on the unemployed approach is simply a way to alienate people from society and to foster a sense of isolation and otherness that is almost guaranteed to find expression in criminal behaviours.
There are very few people who could really be called bad. I do not believe that anyone is born bad. True psychopathy and non-business sociopathy are actually very rare conditions. By contrast, there are a very high percentage of people in prison with mental health problems, who were abused as children, who are unskilled and unemployed, and who are from families that did not know how to bring up their children to live well lives. There are also people who are addicted to drugs, and the list goes on. I am not excusing anybody’s criminal response to these conditions, but to tailor a response to criminality which ignores these realities is mind-bogglingly stupid and self-defeating.
Last Friday, we visited the courts administration authority in South Australia, where both major parties went to the election with a tough on crime approach. The courts are
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