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LEGAL LOWDOWN

ISSUE

27

September 2015

2 Victims Code & Family Violence 3

Employment Law Minimum Rights

LEGAL INFORMATION ANIMATIONS

In collaboration with Auckland Community Law Centre and

students from the Unitec Institute of Technology, we were able

to develop some legal information animations for distribution to

the public. Animation topics include family mediation, clean slate

scheme, no asset procedures and employment entitlements, just

to name a few.

We were pleased to have been invited to participate in this

mentoring opportunity. Keep an eye out on our online and writ-

ten media as we will be posting the animations up for everyone

to see.

Michael Davis, 2nd year Unitec Graphic design and animation

student outlines his experience working on this project:

“I chose to engage in this project as I really enjoyed the idea of help-

ing the community or people who are not sure what type of legal help

is out there for them to seek...

4 STATISTICS Convictions 5 Māori Law Conference

LEGAL INFORMATION ANIMATIONS Unitec design students develop legal info animations

...The community law centres are an awesome team who help peo-

ple and give free legal advice and as a student that really appealed

to me. Helping the community is something that can’t really be

beat as to how I felt after having the task complete. I just hope that

what I have created will indefinitely help people in the future to

seek help and know that it is out there.

My future aspirations as a student is to indeed create a future

based around design, throughout this course I wasn’t too satisfied

with animation as a career but after the years and being taught by

the lecturers that I have had i really feel like anything is possible for

me at this moment. It all comes down to the effort and knowledge I

choose to put into what I create. But yes, design is definitely my

chosen career path at this point.

I love being able to create something from just a vision a person

has had, or a business then coming back to them in future days or

weeks with the product and seeing the pleasing smile on there face.

It is really what has made me solidify design work as my hopeful

career.”

Cover design: Adam Bradley (animation shot)

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Justice Minister, Amy Adams has announced new Court rules

regarding the sharing of information pertaining to family vio-

lence victims and defendants between the family and criminal

courts, to support Judges' decisions in relation to family vio-

lence.

Under the new rules Judges will have access to affidavits,

victim impact statements and summaries of facts from family

violence proceedings that weren’t previously available, to

them.

The changes were introduced as approximately 1200 people

who have had a protection order made against them in the

Family Court were also involved in family violence related

proceedings in the Criminal Court.

In support of the new changes the Justice Minister said:

"Bail decisions are critical in family violence cases because the

victim is well known to the perpetrator. In a random crime,

there is some degree of anonymity, but in family violence, the

perpetrator usually knows exactly where the victim lives, and

potentially their daily schedule as well. Giving judges a clear

picture of a defendant’s previous pattern of family violence

offending when they are making bail decisions is another way

to help protect victims from further harm."

The new information sharing rules follow the recent an-

nouncement of a pilot programme in the Porirua and Christ-

church District Courts. This provides Judges and Registrars

with a Family Violence Summary Report which details a de-

fendant's recorded family violence incidents, Police Safety

Orders and Protection Orders, including any breaches.

For more information on these rule changes please see the

beehive website.

Source: Beehive and Family Violence Clearinghouse

Family Violence information sharing

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 2

victims code

On 19 September 2015, Justice Minister, Amy announced the

launch of a new Victims Code as part of a Government initiative

to provide better support to victims of crime.

The code sets out the following principles that people or organi-

sations should follow in order to promote victim rights:

Principle 1: Safety Principle 2: Respect Principle 3: Dignity and privacy Principle 4: Fair treatment Principle 5: Informed choice Principle 6: Quality services Principle 7: Communication Principle 8: Feedback

In addition to the above principles, the code also formally sets

out the rights of victims of crime. While the principles apply to

all victims, the rights only apply to victims of crimes reported to

the police or before the Courts. The following rights apply to

crimes reported to the police or before the courts:

Right 1: To be given information about programmes, remedies and services

Right 2: To be given information about investigation and criminal proceedings

Right 3: To make a victim impact statement Right 4: To express your views on name suppression Right 5: To speak official languages in court Right 6: To get back property held by the state

In addition to the abovementioned rights, victims of serious

crimes have the following rights:

Right 7: To be informed about bail and express your views Right 8: To receive information and notifications after

sentencing Right 9: To have a representative receive notifications Right 10: To make a submission relating to parole or

extended supervision orders

In addition to the abovementioned rights, victims of a crime

committed by a child or young person has the following right:

Right 11: Family group conferences

Victims still have all other rights as provided for under laws such

as the Human Rights Act 1993 and the New Zealand Bill of

Rights Act 1990.

For more information, see the Victims Information website

Source: Ministry of Justice

help line:

Family Violence

0800 456 450

111 emergency:

3 © CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 3

STUDENT SURVIVAL KIT: EMPLOYMENT LAW 101

WAIKATO - TAINUI

CONNECTIONS

Maintaining our relationship with local Mana Whenua

is important to us. Attending the annual coronation

celebrations of King Tuheitia allows us to maintain

these connections.

This year, our lawyer Wi Pere Mita attended the coro-nation celebrations at Tūrangawaewae Marae,

Ngāruawāhia. It was an opportunity for him to touch

base with local Māori and the Kīngitanga.

With the end of year approaching, the next generation of

school leavers will be taking their first steps into adulthood.

This means, for most, moving out of Mum and Dad’s home

and going flatting (see last month’s newsletter for tenancy

rights and obligations). This also means finding a job to pay

your rent, utilities and other expenses.

There is a lot to know about getting your first job. This arti-

cle sets out minimum wage entitlements.

MINIMUM WAGE

The minimum wage is the lowest amount a boss can pay a

worker for the work they do during their employment.

There are different categories of minimum wage as follows:

Minimum wage for a “starting-out worker” or trainee work-

er is $11.80 an hour (before tax).

You are a starting our worker if:

you’re 16 or 17, and you’re yet to complete six months’ em-

ployment with your current employer

you’re 18 or 19 and you’ve been on a benefit for six months

or more, and you’ve yet to complete six months’ employment

with any single employer since you starting getting the benefit,

or

you’re 16, 17, 18 or 19, and you’re doing at least 40 credits a

year of industry training as part of your employment agree-

ment.

You are a trainee worker if:

you’re aged 20 or older, and

you’re doing at least 60 credits a year of industry training as

part of your employment agreement.

The adult minimum wage is $14.75 an hour (before tax,) for

anyone over 16 years that is not covered by the starting out

worker wage or the trainee worker wage.

MINIMUM WAGE EXEMPTION PERMIT

The Labour Inspector has the power to issue a minimum

wage exemption permit that allows an employer to pay an

employee less than the minimum wage. This, however, is

only reserved for employees with a disability that significantly

affects their job performance.

In order for an exemption permit to be granted the Labour

Inspector must be satisfied that the issuing such permit is

reasonable and appropriate.

A wage rate under an exemption will be based upon an em-

ployees ability to do their job.

For more information about minimum wages please see the

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website.

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STATISTICS: NUMBER OF ADULTS CONVICTED IN NZ

“it is against the law to

breach copyright in New

Zealand”

“the District Court has

the power to fin up to

$150,000”

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 4

Sentence 2015 2014 2013 % Total 2015

Life 30 39 23 0.0%

Preventive Detention 14 7 11 0.0%

Imprisonment 7132 7105 7842 10.8%

Home Detention 2771 2774 3004 4.2%

Community Detention 4513 4773 5513 6.8%

Intensive Supervision 1579 1284 1301 2.4%

Community Work, corrections

16,704 17,705 19,444 25.3%

Supervision by Community Corrections

2864 2725 3120 4.3%

Fine 19,499 22,254 24,746 29.5%

Reparation, Restitution 3432 3585 3800 5.2%

Disqualification from Driving

810 820 863 1.2%

Other 2336 2628 2959 3.5%

Conviction & Discharge 4318 4568 5211 6.5%

Total 66,002 70,267 77,837 100.0%

Year ending 30 June 2015

Source: New Zealand Law Society

Arranged by sentence type and seriousness of offence

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44% Advice

47% Assistance

7% Representation

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NGĀ TAKE MĀORI Issues affecting Māori communities

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com

Te Hunga Roia Māori: Māori Law Conference at Waitangi I tēnei marama I tu te Hunga Roia Māori hei whakakao I te

hunga Māori e mahi ana I te ao ture—mai I ngā pūkenga ture o

roto I ngā Whare Wananga, ki ngā roia Māori tae atu ki ngā

tauira e ako ana I te ture.

We were pleased to attend this year’s Māori Law Confer-

ence hosting at Waitangi. The conference was also attended

by other lawyers, members of the judiciary, legal academics

and law students. The theme of the conference was ‘stand at

the stern of the canoe and feel the spray of the future biting

at your face’. Underpinning the main theme was the sub-

themes which included Te Tiriti (the Treaty), Hauora

(Health) and Whanaungatanga (networking or relationship

building).

Community Law was also invited to address the conference

as keynote speakers. Our Community Law panelists were

Paula Bold-Wilson (Waitematā Community Law Centre),

Desiree Williams (Ngai Tahu Māori Law Centre) and Robyn

Rauna (CLCA Board Member). The panel spoke about the

services provided by Community Law Centres around New

Zealand and the need for sustainable funding and pro-bono

support from the legal fraternity in order to ensure that

Community Law continues to deliver its services.

Some of the other conference speakers covered pertinent

topics such as incorporating tikanga into contracts, the Te

Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 reforms, protecting waahi

tapu and of course, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Wai-

tangi).

Community Legal Services South Trust would like to thank

and congratulate Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa and the

organising committee for a very successful conference.

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UPCOMING

SESSIONS

We currently have 2 on-air legal information slots which

are part of our preventative services. We provide these

services every Wednesday. Each week we look at a dif-

ferent area of law. The details of our on-air services are as

follows:

Planet FM: Kiribati Voice, from 1:00pm

Radio 531pi: Pacific Drive Time, from 2:00pm

To listen to our on-air services, tune in, live via the links

below:

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 7

education statistics

480 people participated in our legal

education sessions

this month

27 legal education sessions delivered this month

Legal Education

LEGAL EDUCATION Our legal education sessions are part of our preventative

services which aim to reduce the number of legal disputes

occurring in our communities.

Through our legal education services, we seek to inform,

and educate the community on their legal rights and re-

sponsibilities in relation to various legal topics.

It is also an opportunity for individuals to ask questions

about specific areas of law they may not understand.

For more information on our Legal Education sessions

and to download/view our education booklet visit the

education tab on our website or contact us on (09) 274

4966

Legal information

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Otara

CLSST Office

120 Bairds Road

Otara Appointments available:

Monday – Friday

Manukau Salvation Army

16B Bakerfield Place

Manukau

Appointments available:

Monday-Friday

Papakura

Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau

4a Opaheke Road

Papakura

Appointments available:

Thursday

Pukekohe

6A Rouslton Street

Pukekohe

Appointments available:

Fortnightly on Tuesday

Manurewa

Manurewa Marae

81 Finlayson Ave

Manurewa

Appointments available:

Wednesday

OUTREACH CLINICS: Our Community

TE MATA LAW:

7 October 2015

BENNION LAW:

4 November 2015

A free Māori Land Advisory Clinic provided in partnership with the Te Mata Law, Bennion Law and

Manurewa Marae, (First Wednesday of every month - by appointment only). Below are the dates for the

2015 Māori Land Advisory Clinics:

CLINIC DETAILS:

Manurewa Marae

81 Finlayson Ave

MANUREWA

30mins appointments

from 10am -1pm

For more information or to book an appointment (with a lawyer) contact

Wi Pere Mita: (09) 274 4966 or wipere.mita@clsstlaw.com

MAORI LAND CLINIC FREE MAORI LAND ADVICE

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 8