Bid for less secrecy in courts shakeup

Name suppression will be harder to get if the Government has its way, after new legislation was signed off by Cabinet yesterday.
The proposed changes will raise the threshold for defendants to argue for their identity to be kept a secret.
Justice Minister Simon Power said the proposed changes, which will make it harder for defendants to get their name and evidence suppressed, would be included in a bill to be introduced to Parliament before the end of the year.
Courts would only be able to make an order prohibiting the publication of an offender's name, address or occupation if there was a real risk of prejudice to a fair trial, where publication would endanger the safety of another person, or to prevent hardship to victims.
The proposals includes automatic name suppression for child victims.
"There has been growing concern that the current grounds for making suppression orders are unclear and that suppression is granted too readily and inconsistently," Mr Power said.
There is no guidance in legislation for what a judge should take into account when considering an application for name suppression and the Government's proposals replace the current broad discretion for granting name suppression orders with "more clearly defined and tighter grounds".
"Being famous is not a good enough reason to be granted name suppression, he and there must be one set of rules for everyone.
"However, the presumption of open justice must be balance against the right of a defendant to a fair trial and we must protect victims where the publication of a defendant's name would also lead to a victim's identification."
Earlier this week the Government also made it harder for people to avoid their civic duty by making the jury service rules "more flexible".
Statistics obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times from the Ministry of Justice reveal 15 per cent of the 18,406 people summoned for jury service in Tauranga District Court last year failed to turn up to court.
While 66 per cent of those summoned were excused - for employment reasons, family commitments, health and/or age reasons.
Under the new rules, anyone who gets a summons can apply to defer their jury service to a more convenient time within 12 months of the original summons date - but being excused will be the exception rather than the rule.
The size of the jury districts will also be extended, which means people are less likely to be frequently summoned.
Mr Power said improving the jury service rules was just one of number of big changes to help simplify the criminal justice system to speed up its processes and make it more efficient.
That could include raising the threshold for a defendant electing to have a jury trial and looking at what could be inferred by a defendant's failure to appear in court, and placing limits on "alternative pleadings".
Mr Power said a large body of work on the criminal justice system would cut waiting times for a jury trial in the High Court from the present 16 months and in the District Court from 13 months.
The ministry has a website to improve information available to jurors and the public www.justice.govt.nz/services/jury-service.
The Bay of Plenty Times is fighting to have a suppression order lifted for a Tauranga man facing serious drug charges who has argued publication would jeopardise his right to a fair trial.