Prisoner compensation restrictions continued

A Bill to extend the applicability of the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Act 2005 for a further year passed its first reading in Parliament today.

The Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (2012 Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill extends sunset clauses in the 2005 Act that would otherwise have caused certain provisions related to the award of prisoner compensation to lapse on 30 June 2012.

Justice Minister Judith Collins says the new Bill bridges the gap between expiry of the current victims' claims process and progressing the Government's policy to redirect prisoner compensation to victims of crime.

“The Bill continues the current regime for one year. That means courts can only award compensation to prisoners for breaches of their human rights in extraordinary circumstances.

“If financial compensation is awarded, victims of the prisoner can seek redress for the harms they have suffered, and any remaining compensation goes to the prisoner.

“The Government’s policy is to restrict prisoners from receiving any financial compensation and instead, redirects that money to victims of crime.

“We want to ensure compensation awarded to prisoners is appropriately used to fund services and programmes to support victims of crime.

“The legislation to implement our policy is currently before Parliament, and I believe the proposed policy needs to be fully considered by select committee.

“Due to the expiry of the current regime by 30 June this year, this new Bill has been introduced to extend the current process.

“This ensures victims continue to have access to compensation awarded to prisoners and gives New Zealanders the opportunity to have their say on this important legislation,” Ms Collins said.