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National | Court

Māori judge says Māori youth offending has decreased since Kōti Rangatahi introduced

Judge Hemi Taumaunu believes Māori youth offending is on the decrease since the introduction of Ngā Kōti Rangatahi o Aotearoa, back in 2008.

Today the Lay Advocate conference was held in Auckland, which for the first time brought Māori judges, lawyers and lay advocate together.

Māori youth offending is over-represented in New Zealand statistics, but Judge Taumaunu believes that’s on the decrease since the introduction of Ngā Kōti Rangatahi o Aotearoa, back in 2008.

There are currently 13 kōti rangatahi (youth courts) in the country and the Ministry of Justice wants to establish more.

Anthony Fisher from the Ministry of Justice says, “First of all, availability of Māori judges to preside over kōti rangatahi, also the readiness of hapū and iwi to embrace our rangatahi court and to support them.”

The conference will continue tomorrow at Ellerslie Event Centre in Auckland.