Dear Minister Goff
As a user of the New Zealand Court system I wish to offer to you,
in your capacity as Minister for Courts, a few suggestions which I hope
you will consider.
Firstly; I would like to see an enactment embracing an offence of
"Maori steals from Non-Maori". This offence should carry a
higher maximum penalty than the offence of theft.
I make this proposal because Maori are disproportionately represented
in theft cases (and many other criminal cases) most of which may involve
theft from a Non-Maori.
This proposal follows logically on the flawed suggestion that an offence
of "Male assaults female" (which also attracts a higher penalty
than the offence of "Assault") was necessary because Men are
more likely to assault a women yet we can refer to numerous credible
studies that have conclusively found women to be as likely to use violence,
and in most cases more violence, more frequently than their male counterparts.
They are also found to be more likely to use a weapon!
However, I am certain you will ignore my proposal for an offence of
"Maori steals from Non-Maori" because such an offence would
be a reprehensible concept under any so-called equality doctrine. Similar
logic must surely apply to the offence of "Male assaults female"
and it should immediately be abolished.
The sexist and discriminatory offence of "Male assaults female"
together with the enactment and enforcement of that offence is a breach
of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. It is also a breach of The International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 which is not bound by Bill
Of Rights Act s. 4, which allows other statutes to trump the Bill Of
Rights Act. If this offence of "Male assaults female" is not
abolished forthwith I will consider taking this issue to the Human Rights
Committee.
Finally I would like you to consider changing the name of the "Family
Court" to "The Mommies Court". I say this because that
name would be more in keeping with the outcomes achieved by that institution.
I will be writing in the near future to advance this proposal further.
I thank you for taking the time to consider my suggestions.
