‘The Government is proposing to end the right of a defendant to elect trial by jury for about 80 offences, including smacking a child.
……The move is part of a package of sweeping reforms announced yesterday by Justice Minister Simon Power in a bid to reduce the time cases take and simplify the criminal justice system.
“The system is clogged and needs to be fixed,” he said, estimating that there were 43,000 unnecessary court appearances each year.
….At present, with a few exceptions, defendants charged with an offence punishable by more than three months in prison have the right to elect a jury trial. That is guaranteed under the Bill of Rights Act, which will have to be amended if the new law is passed.’ (bold mine)
Rights which can be terminated on a political whim are no rights at all. The system is “clogged” in large part by greedhead lawyers and prosecutions for victimless crimes, but heaven forbid this government should actually do something about these. Hell, why not really streamline the system and do away with trials altogether–and simply convict people on the untested word of a police officer?
