To paraphrase a memorable Paul Keating line — “What is Jeremy Rapke, the Victorian DPP on about, he has never had it so good.” Mr Rapke used a 25th anniversary of the creation of his office by the Cain government in 1983 to complain about how difficult it was to lock people up and to secure convictions.
But Mr Rapke’s speech failed to suggest what we all know to be the case — that many cases should never end up before the courts, that restorative justice should be utilised more frequently and that the reason our courts are full is because of our ridiculous war on drugs polices and the way the police and prosecutors insist on mentally ill people being dealt with in the traditional criminal courts.
The legal system now in Victoria and in every other state of Australia is heavily weighted in favour of prosecutors like Mr Rapke. Majority jury verdicts, severe restrictions on the right of the accused to ask questions of alleged victims in s-xual assault and rape cases, a conservative High Court that over the past decade has eroded the rights of the accused, and of course knee-jerk reactions from governments of every political hue have increased sentences and filled our jails.
Mr Rapke bemoans the fact that lawyers are allowed to ask too many questions and that trials take too long. Part of the reason for this surely lies in the fault of his own Office and the Police as much as it does with defence lawyers. And the same goes for his complaint about the increase in the number of successful appeals by defendants. Perhaps this is because the person should not have been brought to trial in the first place, or the police and prosecution did not prepare their case properly.
In New South Wales, Mr Rapke’s equivalent number Chris Cowdery takes on the law and order lobby regularly and suggests a more sensible and reformist approach to criminal justice. Mr Rapke had that chance last night and he flunked it.
He rightly noted that so much criminal activity features mental illness and drugs. But what he failed to do was to question whether or not people with severe mental illness should be dealt with by the traditional criminal justice system in the first place. Surely, given that criminal responsibility is diminished in the case of mental illness and a jail term will only make matters worse, it is time to look at collaborative round table approaches to such cases. In a case of an assault by a person having a psychotic episode surely more is gained by treatment for that individual and for him or her to sit across from the victim and apologising, than a full-blown criminal trial in which neither the victim nor the assailant can get real justice.
And what a pity Mr Rapke didn’t use this high profile opportunity to do what numerous judges, law enforcement officers, lawyers and police makers are doing across the world today — calling for an end to the failed zero tolerance of drugs. Why is Mr Rapke’s office prosecuting users of heroin or ice? Why aren’t we recognising that decriminalising drug use and making it a health issue will help to substantially reduce the profit motive and therefore the organised crime element that is part and parcel of the drug world today.
Apparently Australia will move forward from the failed zero tolerance to drugs policy when our former Slime Minister, John Howard’s generation shuffles off this mortal coyle.
I cross the age & political divide fairly regularly & it’s rare to find a voter under 55 who isn’t ready for a change in our failed drugs policy…….of course, except among the declining numbers of conservative Christian & Muslim younger generations, who have been brainwashed on most things practical by the time they’re 10 years old.
I’d urge people to check out the comparative drugs problems of those EU countries who have zero tolerance OR a mental health treatment approach.
Sadly in the USA, Home of the Twee, I expect their attitudes to be changed by this time in the 22nd century.
Well said Greg, I’ve been trying to convice friends of mine that decriminalising of drugs would clear out approx 80% of all jails, pull the rug from under the “underbellies” out there and also save lives of innocent young people who are experimenting for the first time with ‘junk’ some dealer has cooked up in his/her kitchen using god knows what as long as they make money.
But this will never happen in my time, (I’m 50), as no politition will touch it with a 100foot pole!
In SA the situation is that everytime the Labor Government looks like it is in trouble the bully boy Attorney General announces a new draconian law.
SA has moved from being a relaxed place to one where young people out enjoying themselves are likely to be sniffed by drug detecting dogs and arrested.
It has nothing to do with John Howard but to do with politicians who like to boast about how many people are in Jail ie Kevin Foley’s rack ’em pack ’em and stack’em policy.
Not only is it unlikely to change but the propoganda about how terrible the drugs are to the youth of today that it is worth putting them in jail to save them. It is a disgraceful situation exploited by politicians happy to sacrifice young people for their own political necks.