‘Police should guard civil liberties’

Press, 12 October 1985, Page 19

‘Police should guard civil liberties’

TESSA WARD

con-

cludes her two-part series about civil liberties.

Police procedures in New Zealand could be improved to give more consideration for civil liberties, according to the president of the Canterbury Council for Civil Liberties, Professor Bill Wlllmott. In his annual report to the council Professor Wlllmott says that the Christchurch police are beginning to respond to council criticisms on the way that complaints about the police are "Complaints are now heard in private by the Christchurch police rather than at the reception desk,” he says. “The Minister of Police, Mrs Hercus, has asked the Police Commissioner Mr Ken Thompson, to produce a discussion paper on new procedures for complaints about the police. “We welcome the basic principle of the discussion paper — to appoint someone outside the police to oversee complaints procedures. Among our recommendations are a neutral place for complaints to be lodged and the appointment of more than one Commissioner of Police Complaints so that local issues can be dealt with more effectively and rapidly.” The council also called for a; review of policing procedures and policy as well as specific cases, Professor Wlllmott says in his report. . ’‘The police have always argued that they are the most competent to handle complaints about the police. They also say that passing the investigation into the complaint to an outsider woulH endanger police morale. “Yet there are cases, such as the recent Dunedin sex film case,

where many of the police would welcome an outside investigation. This was done for the Paul Chase case in Lower Hutt when a policeman shot a man in his house, claiming that he, the policeman, was in danger. “While the policeman in Question was exonerated by the Wellington lawyer who carried out the inquiry, this lawyer was able to show that there was something wrong with police procedure for this shooting to have occurred.”

One of the problems with police complaints procedures was the length of time that they can take, Professor Willmott says. “People become frustrated and angry towards the police as complaints investigations drag on. Many of the complaints really require a local person who knows the local procedures to deal with them, effectively and quickly. “The complaints should also be lodged somewhere else other than the police station as many people find it intimidating to have to go to the very organisation they are protesting against. The police complaints examiner should be able to investigate not only specific cases but general police procedure. “For example, the Auckland police had a task force policy where a group of police would work together and this led to confrontations with young people of various sorts. Obviously this procedure was questionable/’ A police force should be the guardians of civil liberties as the servants of law, Professor Willmott says. ’ “The council views the use of police under-cover agents in legal

organisations as basically counterproductive to this principle. It discourages the freedom of expression and association, and the police should deal only with illegal activity. “A public meeting was held by the council to hear from the Police Commissioner, Mr Ken Thompson, and for people to present their arguments to him. Those attending had the distinct impression that Mr Thompson listened to the evidence and arguments for a neutral place to lay complaints.” On the question of a Bill of Rights, Professor Willmott says that lawyers in the council are divided on the issue of whether such a bill would improve civil rights or work against them in New Zealand. “In the tradition of the common law there is an assumption that everything is legal unless it is expressly forbidden by the law. Some council members therefore feel that any positive statement about what our rights are in a bill of rights will lead to a trimming of that common law principle. “It could then become possible to argue that any rights not guaranteed by the bill are not automatic rights. The argumentSn favour of the proposed oil! maintains that there are very real dangers of a society limiting individual rights.

“Other democracies have gone down the tube in this way.” The proposed Bill of Rights provides an ideal opportunity for more people to become aware of civil liberties, Professor Willmott says. ’‘Discussion about what our rights are has got to be very good for New Zealand society. To help with this, the council has organised five weekly public meetings on Monday evenings at the W.E.A. in late February next year. “If the bill is passed the unelected judges in our judicial system become the guarantors of civil liberties to the extent that they can over-ride parliamentary law by declaring it unconstitutional. Their power will be greatly enhanced and it means putting civil liberties in the hands of mainly middle or upper class pakeha male wealthy people.” The issue of freedom of expression in relation to racist, pornographic or similar literature confronts the council, with difficult decisions, Professor Willmott says. “Civil liberties should protect the rights of minorities who might be threatened. The purists say that we must protect the rights of all to say whatever they like about whom mever they like. “That is fine, except that what they say might endanger the rights of another minority. This applies to the case of the racist pamphlets printed by the National Workers’ Party that were seized by the police and outlawed by the Human Rights Act last year.” Professor Willmott feels that the debate over the two conflicting rights in these cases will intensify

as Inequalities in New Zealand society grow. “It could be argued that our law against racist literature is illegal because it limits free expression. “Another difficult one is whether you should have the right to see whatever you want to, including pornography, in the privacy of your own home. This has tended lo be a right enshrined very clearly in British tradition — that a man’s home is his castle. “Now we have women who are arguing that pornographv reinforces a false stereotype of women in the minds of many men. This stereotype is that women are objects that can be exploited.” In this light pornography could be viewed as directly opposed to the rights of women to be equal in society, Professor Willmott says. “I can well Imagine this question becoming a much more major issue for the council to consider. Some women are working hard to strengthen the law against pornography and ironically the push comes from both fundamentalist and radical reform groups. “The first group considers pornography as sinful and the other as stereotyping women and therefore infringing on their rights. The council’s view is that women are people and there cannot be any distinction in the rights between men and women based on their roles in society.” Women and any groups throughout the world should have the choice as to whether they want their role defined by their religion or some other role that does not interfere with the rights of others," Professor Willmott says.