Criminal Justice Policy

Principles

    The Greens NSW believe:

1. A just and effective criminal justice system is in the interests of community safety and crime reduction;
2. Crime and criminal behaviour often has serious social impacts, particularly upon the victims of crime;
3. A just and effective criminal justice system must protect individual freedoms and rights;
4. It is important to reduce crime through policies including early intervention, alleviating poverty, education and training, rehabilitation and drug law reform;
5. The failed and simplistic politics of ‘law-and-order’ which seeks electoral advantage through exploitation of community fears and insecurities should be rejected;
6. Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) crimes are under-investigated and under-prosecuted compared to other forms of crime, and that more resources should be devoted to the prosecution of these crimes; and
7. The expansion of the custodial industry in NSW is a drain on public funds that has a negligible impact on the reduction of crime.
   
   

   Goals

   The Greens NSW will work towards:
8. A pro-active role for the NSW Government in delivering  programs  to alleviate the causes of crime such as unemployment, poverty, child abuse, lack of education and training and drug and alcohol abuse;
9. Maintaining the ongoing independence of the office of Director of Public Prosecutions;
10. Effective civilian oversight  of NSW Police with adequate accountability mechanisms;
11. A judiciary that is independent of political interference and able to exercise discretion in sentencing;
12. A criminal justice system that deals effectively and humanely with serious offenders;
13. The imposition, wherever possible, of non-custodial penalties for those convicted of relatively minor, non-violent crimes in order to maximise the likelihood of successful rehabilitation and reduce recidivism;
14. The more humane treatment of prisoners, especially the disproportionately high numbers of those with mental illness and/or intellectual disability;
15. Effective programs to rehabilitate incarcerated offenders and reduce recidivism, including  education, training schemes, employment opportunities, post release social support and other social and vocational services;
16. Ongoing education of the magistracy, the judiciary and the police to overcome prejudice and discrimination and to raise awareness about the impact of their decisions, particularly in relation to victims of sexual violence, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander People, those from other ethnic backgrounds; and other disadvantaged groups; and
17. Ensure prisons are owned and operated by the public sector.
    
    

    Policy Detail

    The Greens NSW will:
18. Support a review of the Summary Offences Act (1988) with a view to removing offences that are archaic or trivial;
19. Expand the range of restorative justice and properly supervised diversionary measures, including the extending the operation of the Drug Court to more locations across NSW;
20. Support a properly resourced and  fully independent Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research;
21. Establish an Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Overview Unit to monitor and implement any outstanding recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the Crime Prevention through Social Support Report and the Increase in Prisoner Population Reports that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still want implemented in NSW;
22. Establish a Victims Intervention Service to directly address victim's rights, including improved access to compensation, counselling and peer support programs;
23. Re-instate the role of Inspector-General of Prisons as an important accountability mechanism;
24. Implement drug law reform to reduce crime;
25. Increased controls over gun use and ownership, including a ban on automatic and semi-automatic handguns consistent with the regulation of long arms;
26. Support well resourced community-based refuges, halfway houses, crisis centres, drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation centres including specific services for Indigenous Australians and people from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds;
27. Support increased funding for Legal Aid and community and Aboriginal legal centres;
28. Support legal aid being awarded for public interest matters, including environmental cases;
29. Overhaul NSW laws to protect individuals and groups from defamation actions and applications for restraining orders designed to silence dissent or stifle freedom of speech;
30. Support the Police Integrity Commission as a vital accountability mechanism;
31. Support the abolition of systematic strip searching by police and prison officials without reasonable grounds or suspicion of criminal behaviour;
32. Support distinct criminal justice policies in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, developed in a collaborative way, with members of those communities;
33. Support measures to encourage greater representation of women and minorities in the judiciary;
34. Support the following basic principles of criminal justice, and will repeal any NSW laws that override such principles:
• 34.1 The legal presumption of innocence until proven guilty
• 34.2 The right to a trial by jury for all indictable offences
• 34.3 The presumption in favour of bail
• 34.4 The requirement for unanimous jury verdicts
• 34.5 The principle of double jeopardy
• 34.5 Judicial discretion in sentencing;
35. Support fair wages and industrial conditions for NSW police and prison officers;
36. Introduce specific programs to combat violence against women and children, including carefully targeted education campaigns against domestic violence and sexual assault;
37. Introduce specific programs to combat hate crimes, including education and advertising campaigns against racial, homosexual, lesbian, transgender and intersex vilification;
38. Provide effective support systems within the courts and corrective services for those with intellectual disabilities and those with mental illness (both victims and defendants/offenders);
39. Support programs designed to assist perpetrators of crime to understand their crimes and change their behaviour both within the prison system and upon release into the community;
40. Support the establishment of  bail hostels to provide accommodation for those on bail, and in particular women and young offenders;
41. Support the maintenance of public ownership and control over NSW correctional facilities; and
42. Minimise stress on complainants in sexual assault and rape trials, by modifying, consistent with a fair trial, investigation and court procedures.

Follow this link for The Greens NSW Justice Policy Summary.