Victims advocacy group wants law change to allow unedited victim impact statements

Trish Fabish (right) handing over a "Stop editing victim impact statements" petition to National MP Barbara Kuriger (right) at Parliament last week. Photo / NZME

A petition calling for victims to be allowed to read unedited victim impact statements in court would be entering "dangerous territory", according to one Tauranga defence barrister.

The petition organised by Sensible Sentencing Group Trust member Trish Fabish was handed to National MP Barbara Kuriger on the steps of Parliament last week

Trust co-leaders Jess McVicar and Darroch Ball, other National MPs, and members of the public were also there to see the petition handed over to Kuriger.

Fabish's nephew, Aaron Roigard, 27, was murdered by his father David Roigard in 2014.

Fabish, of New Plymouth, launched the "Stop editing Victim Impact Statements"' online petition last year, which received 2637 signatures, some from overseas.

She said too many victim impact statements were edited, including hers, and victims should be allowed to speak more freely about the harm and loss they felt.

The trust's national victim advocate manager, Jayne Walker, said victims should be able to express the harm they had experienced in their own words.

Removing the right for victims to do so was "frustrating and unhelpful", she said.

"We are not asking for the right to swear or be disrespectful to the court but we are asking for the process to be fairer for all."

The trust wanted a parliamentary select committee to consider submissions on the issue.

Brian and Lynette Brown, the Tauranga parents of Natasha Hayden, who was killed by Michael Curran at McLaren Falls Park in 2005. Photo / NZME

Brian Brown, the Tauranga father of 24-year-old Natasha Hayden who was strangled to death by Michael Curran on January 10, 2005, backed the petition "100 per cent".

Curran is serving a life sentence for the manslaughter of Natasha and for the murder of 2-year-old Aaliyah Morrissey of Tauranga, who died on September 15, 2005.

Brown said he recalled being stopped twice by the sentencing judge when he read his victim impact statement as he "tried to push the envelope" in telling Curran how he felt.

"Today it depends on the judge on the day as to how much freedom victims are given to speak their mind.

"It can be quite cathartic to stand up and confront the crims and read your victim impact statement after weeks or even months of not being able to do so.

'Why should victims not be allowed to vent their spleen to some degree as it gives a bit of closure or for some may help with the healing process ... Not that I will ever forgive Curran for what he did to Tash and our family."

Brown felt the legal system was geared more towards an offender's rights than the victims'.

However, Tauranga criminal barrister Tony Balme said allowing unedited victim impact statements would be, in his view, getting into "dangerous territory".

"The bottom line is that the risk is just too great," he said.

Balme said, generally speaking, this included the risk of victims making "highly defamatory or even racist comments about the offender and potentially untrue or untested allegations".

"Under the present legislation, there is some judicial oversight but even so, some victims seem to think they can say what they like and sometimes it's quite inappropriate.

"It might even affect the reputation of someone who is wrongly maligned by the victim and potentially could impact on the administration of other court cases," he said.

Rita Nabney, another senior Tauranga defence lawyer, agreed.

"Everybody, victims, defendants, lawyers and judges, are all bound by the law in terms of their conduct in court, she said.

"I do not accept the rules around victim impact statements should be overturned to become an unregulated forum to allow people to say what they want.

"I don't accept that victims don't have a voice but what they say about the offender and the harm done to them must have judicial oversight."

Sensible Sentencing Group Trust national victim advocate manager Jayne Walker (left) with Jacqui Miles, whose son was murdered, speaking outside Parliament. Photo / Supplied

Sensible Sentencing Group Trust member Jacqui Miles, whose 15-year-old son Hayden was brutally murdered by Gavin Gosnell in 2011, was one of the guest speakers at the petition handover.

"My son was dismembered and his body was buried in three graves," Miles told the Bay of Plenty Times.

"I felt the man who murdered Hayden had more rights than we did in terms of our freedom to speak openly about the harm he had done ... I felt Hayden had no voice.

"It's not right. Victims should be allowed to say what they like within reason, and that includes telling the offender to rot in hell and describing them as a murderer or killer."

Victims and survivors advocate Louise Nicholas. Photo / NZME

Advocate for victims, Louise Nicholas, said in her experience the majority of the time judges allowed victim impact statements to be read without much redaction.

Nicholas said the main issue was people tried to include inappropriate comments and some victims used swear words in their statements.

"There is so much power in actually telling the person literally to their face of the harm they have done, without the need to swear or be disrespectful to themselves or the court."

Nicholas believed victims could still say what they wanted using strong words but without swearing or "flipping out", and in doing so they can send a far more powerful message.

Victim Support chief executive Kevin Tso said the organisation encouraged the Government to hear the concerns of victims and look at how the process can be improved.

"The victim impact statement can be the only voice they get, so being told what you can and can't say in it just compounds the feelings of hurt and exclusion victims are already experiencing.

"Our own research in this area tells us that preparing a victim impact statement can be therapeutic and powerful for many, but those benefits are lost if victims are substantively constrained by what they can say," he said.

In a written statement, Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi said he was aware of the issue and was getting advice from officials.