Diversion justice system working

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 409, 22 October 1991, Page 7

Diversion justice system working

In the Ohakune District Court last month Judge Watson commended an article about the 'Diversion' system of justice which had appeared the day before in the Wanganui Chronicle. In view of the large number of cases which were 'diverted' in Ohakune we sought and were granted permission from the writer of the article, David Calder, to reproduce this explanation of the Diversion system in order to give our readers a better understanding of how it works. The co-operation of the Wanganui Chronicle is gratefully acknowledged. Diversion works. The system by which certain offenders are "diverted" from the justice system has been operating in Wanganui for about two years. Official trials have run elsewhere, but in Wanganui it is strictly unofficial, based on the cooperation of the police and the consent of the District Court judges. In Wanganui, the failure rate is fractionally over 1 percent. Under the scheme, the police offer an offender deemed to be a suitable candidate an option that, if accepted and carried out, will result in no conviction being entered. It has to be a first offence and a relatively minor one, and the complainant (victim) has to approve. The offender must meet a number of conditions, which include apologising to the complainant in

writing and making good any loss. It is not an altemative that can be offered widely, and in fact candidates are carefully chosen. This has led to charges that it favours certain categories of offender over others, but it seems inevitable that those most likely to benefit will be those most in tune with the general standards of the community. Another objection in some legal quarters was that the police were usurping the powers of the courts, but in fact, as the scheme operates in Wanganui, diversion is a recommendation to the court, which has to agree. The judges have also been quick to point out to diversion candidates that, if they re-offend, they can expect to be dealt with more severely than would otherwise have been the case. In the Wanganui District Court yesterday, Judge Lowe asked Sergeant Kevin Whiteman how well it was working. "Over the past two years, 270 people have been given diversion, and only three have re-offended," replied the sergeant. "And they have a much higher opinion of the police as well?" asked His Honour. "Some of them," said Sergeant Whiteman, with a distinctly cautious note in his voice. (Wanganui Chronicle)