Three strikes papers 'seen but not signed' by justice minister

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Just a day before the Cabinet approved a deal hammered out with ACT over the contentious three-strikes law and order policy, justice officials were pointing out its flaws.

The Government's three strikes policy for violent offenders was heavily criticised by the Justice Ministry, with officials warning it would be unfair, potentially breach human rights and contradict other crime-fighting measures.

But documents obtained by The Dominion Post under the Official Information Act show the ministry's final advice was "seen but not signed" by Justice Minister Simon Power, with the note: "overtaken by events".

A deadlock between the ministry and ACT was broken by Police Minister Judith Collins, who took over the law change and agreed to provide options for police charging practices that would provide "sufficient safeguards" where a case might trigger a third strike.

Mrs Collins will ask the select committee to consider an amendment approved by the Cabinet that would require police to refer all prosecutions involving charges that qualify for stage three to the Crown solicitor for review either pre-charge or by the second appearance.

On December 16, just a day before the Cabinet approved a deal hammered out with ACT, officials warned the policy would be unfair, hit Maori hardest, potentially breach international human rights codes and contradict the Government's other crime-fighting measures.

National and ACT blocked the Justice Ministry last month from giving advice to the select committee looking at the three-strikes policy.

Labour law and order spokesman Clayton Cosgrove said yesterday that the latest release showed why. The main justice agency had big reservations and Mr Power "doesn't want a bar of it".

Mr Power has said he supports the new law.

Under the deal agreed with ACT, those who commit certain violent crimes get a warning for their first offence, a full sentence with no parole for a second and the maximum sentence for that crime, with no parole, for a third offence.

Officials said the three strikes policy should instead be triggered by a conviction that resulted in a five-year sentence, because that more accurately reflected seriousness and culpability than a mere conviction.

A threshold of a prison sentence was necessary to exclude very low level offending.

"In some cases the new regime could apply a prison sentence of at least seven years for an offence that would previously have resulted in a fine or community based sentence," they said.

In some cases a sentence could be 10 times longer than it would otherwise have been.

Justice officials also warned the new regime could violate international obligations not to arbitrarily deprive individuals of their liberty and not to employ cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.