NZ - Call to ditch right to silence

Long story short.

NZ, I am ashamed to say has incredibly ugly and frankly embarrassing stats in child abuse and scum parents/supposed guardians.

The latest is a little 4 year old dude who was beaten to an inch of his life and they say he will probably be permanently brain damaged if he makes it.

The cop in charge says it's the worst case he has seen.

We also have another issue, which is we have quite a few times had the entire family of the kids shutting up shop and refusing to make statements.

This is another one.

There are now calls to ditch the right to silence in these investigations

Personally, while I understand why it is there normally for extremely good reason, I say **** people's rights in kid abusing cases and just keep it for others.

We have a govt dept called the Serious Fraud Office which investigates serious financial crime that has more power than the cops and you don't have this right.

It seems a bit stuffed priorities to me that we treat cash as more serious than kids being beaten the **** out of.

I appreciate yanks probably won't agree given the whole ammendment constitution thing.




https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12309161

Quote:

Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft says right to silence should be abolished Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft has called for the right to silence to be abolished, saying that "the fact you might incriminate yourself isn't a reason for not talking". Becroft's comments come in the wake of the brutal assault on a four-year-old in Hawke's Bay. Police say the boy, who is in a stable condition at Starship children's hospital, suffered a sustained beating - possibly over days - at a Flaxmere address in late January and will most likely suffer from brain damage. Speaking to Newshub this morning, Becroft said: "I think [the right to silence] needs to be abolished or amended." "The state can't force you to incriminate yourself and in my years as a lawyer and judge I held that dear," he said. "In this role I've come to the view that we need to take a serious look into that." "I think we will be looking at it very closely." University of Canterbury criminology lecturer Professor Greg Newbold*told NZME last week that a revised law under The Crimes Amendment Act*- brought in after the trial over the death of the Kahui twins - meant anyone who has frequent contact and knows that the victim is at risk of death, grievous bodily harm, or sexual assault or fails to take reasonable steps to protect the victim from risk, could face prosecution. Those people can be a member of the same household as the victim or a staff member of any hospital, institution or residence where the victim resides. The maximum sentence for a charge of failing to protect a child or vulnerable adult from risk of death, or grievous bodily harm, is 10 years' jail. Becroft's comments echo those made by Police Association President Chris Cahill last week. Cahill said under the current law in the Bill Of Rights Act an individual has the right to not give a statement. "It's an issue we come across all the time in cases such as this, and we think it is time to look at those rights to silence." Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says someone knows how the four-year-old boy was brutally bashed, and has urged any silent family members who have information to come forward. Ardern said cases like that of the Flaxmere boy, who remained in a stable condition in Starship Hospital, likely with brain damage, were "devastating". "I know we are a country that wants all our children to live free from violence - but that is going to continue to take our ongoing effort and commitment," Ardern said. "In the meantime, someone knows what happened to this child, and I urge them to come forward."

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