Wellington, Nov 21 (IANS ) The New Zealand government on Thursday proposed changes to the country's name suppression laws to put views of victims of sexual violence first and at the heart of the justice system.
The first change will ensure the courts cannot issue a permanent name suppression order for an adult convicted of a sexual offence, unless the victim agrees to it, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said in a statement on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.
"Currently victims' views only have to be taken into account by the courts. Long battles over name suppression retraumatises victims, as does the inability to discuss what happened to them and warn others," Goldsmith said.
The second change will ensure victims of all sexual crimes, including intimate visual recording offences, are automatically given name suppression, he said.
He pointed out that some victims of sexual offenses currently receive automatic name suppression and others do not, which represents a legislative gap.
New Zealand's name suppression laws need to better empower victims of sexual offences, ensure openness of court proceedings, and that people convicted of serious sexual crimes are identified and held to account, the minister said.
These changes will help ensure New Zealand to have 20,000 fewer victims of serious violent crimes by 2029, he said.