KEY POINTS:
The Government has reacted to a series of scandals in the Corrections Department by announcing a review of the entire justice sector.
It has been concerned about problems in the justice area for some time, and last year Helen Clark hosted the launch of the "effective interventions" strategy
to reform sentencing and prisons policy.
Yesterday's announcement confirmed that the Prime Minister is taking a more hands-on approach to law and order, and could result in a major shake-up for Corrections, Courts and Justice.
While the review has apparently been contemplated for some time, she seems to have been hurried into yesterday's announcement by the furious public reaction to the Liam Ashley and Graeme Burton cases.
North Shore teenager Liam Ashley was killed last year while being transported in a prison van, and convicted murderer Graeme Burton killed Karl Kuchenbecker in January after having breached his parole. Both cases are likely to result in lawsuits against the Corrections Department.
No details of the type of review, its timeframe or who would carry it out were announced yesterday, although the Law Commission is expected to play some role. Details will not be finalised until the Prime Minister returns from the United States.
In Parliament last week, she was forced to step in to defend Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor, who has been under constant attack this year by National. She will be hoping the review announcement will provide Mr O'Connor with added protection.
"I'm concerned about the overall operation of the system," she said. "I think we've seen a number of changes over a number of years which have affected its operation as a system, so unless you start to look at it from a systems perspective you're always ... trying to mop up afterwards."
Labour has already moved Courts back under the Justice Ministry, and the Prime Minister would not rule out Corrections also being merged back into Justice. National, which split Corrections off in 1995, said in February that it would merge the departments if it got into government.
"I'm entirely open to a discussion about what should happen with Corrections but I think it needs to be properly looked at, not just a sort of snap decision, because restructuring always involves time and right now we are endeavouring to fix some issues," Helen Clark said.
National Justice spokesman Simon Power said it was ironic Labour would consider a merger after ridiculing National for suggesting it.
"The Prime Minister is now saying that she thinks it is a good idea, or that she won't rule it out. This is a Government that is grasping at straws in the justice area."
Mr Power said the Prime Minister's announcement confirmed she had no confidence in the Ministers of Courts, Corrections and Justice.
"It's an admission of titanic proportions that her Government and second-rate ministers in the justice sector have been unable to get on top of the problems in a way that will convince the public that they know what they are doing."
New Zealand First law and order spokesman Ron Mark, who last week called for an independent inquiry into Corrections, welcomed the review. He said the department's problems were symptomatic of wider problems in the justice sector.
"We expect a meaningful review that produces tangible changes that are necessary to restore the integrity of our justice system and to ensure prisons are managed in the way that the New Zealand people expect them to be. Not just prisons, but also the courts and the parole system."
Yesterday the Prime Minister also made several announcements about parole regulations, some new and some already foreshadowed. Among them was a law change to make it clear that parole was a privilege.
"It's not an entitlement, and it's not a right," she said, "and the law will be amended to make that abundantly clear."
Toughening Up
The Prime Minister yesterday outlined changes to the parole system. They include:
* Police power to apply to the Parole Board to recall a prisoner believed to be a risk to public safety.
* Clarification that police can be told when the board releases a prisoner or sets conditions for release.
* Clarification that a conviction is not needed to send a parolee who reoffends back to jail.
* Authority for police and Corrections to give the board confidential information in some circumstances.
* Parole Board to get power to call witnesses.
