Social Progress Party
Politics to serve all of society, not just the wealthy and powerful.
Justice & Prisons
Make justice work for both victims and society:
Prioritise criminal rehabilitation; increased scrutiny, pay and support for parole officers; split CPS in two with a Victims’ Advocate Service and a Public Prosecution Service; speed up the judicial process.
Underlying Principles:
As much as possible, the Justice process should be one of discovery of fact, not adversarial accusation and rebuttal.
Courts should be funded sufficiently to allow fair treatment of victims and the accused, and the timely progression of crimes to trial.
Punishment should be meaningful relative to the severity and impact of the related crime.
Rehabilitation and support should be the default intent of any sentence for the majority of those convicted of crimes, considering the use of probation and community sentences where possible, alongside counselling, medical care and training.
Incarceration for the purposes of protecting society from an individual who is deemed to be incapable of rehabilitation should be a last resort, in a specific prison category, and only after a thorough medical and psychiatric evaluation.
There should be an alternative type of institution to care and support those who are unable to effectively function in society and end up in prison by default rather than as a result of considered behaviour.
Introduction of a new treatment of rape, so it can be prosecuted jointly with additional offences in the same case.
Increased funding for the court system
Mediation services to be utilised before trial for civic cases.
Review prison population for cases better suited to alternative care.
Policies - please click on the areas you are interested in for more details
Replace CPS with two organisations:
Victims’ Advocate Service and Public Prosecutions Service
Establish meaningful alternative rehabilitation routes for certain criminals
Greater deterrents for frivolous or malicious claims and accusations brought to court.
Maximum caseload for probation and parole officers, based on their complexity as well as their number.
Review Government Ministries’ responsibilities and their ability to work together in support of social priorities, efficiency and clarity.