Thu, 26 Nov 2009 5:29p.m.
By Sia Aston
The Government has, in a single day, passed a law change that means prisoners can be kept overnight in court cells, because prison beds are full.
But there are concerns the rushed law change will bring more problems than it solves.
New Zealand's prisons are full to bursting, and numbers are expected to literally spill over this summer. In response the Government rushed through a law change today, under urgency.
"We have to be prepared for a crisis," says Corrections Minister Judith Collins.
One hundred and one court cells in main centres will be used, and prisoners will stay in them for no more than four days at a time.
The Government admits this is a last resort.
"We'd obviously only use these in emergency situations," says Ms Collins.
But prison staff are worried this will put more stress on an already overburdened service.
"We're short staffed now, we're double bunking, we're over crowded, we've got increasing assaults on staff," says Bevan Hanlon, Corrections Association.
"I think what would make it far more stressful for prison staff is if we had to leave prisoners in prison vans and drive around looking for a bed, which is what happened under the previous Government," says Ms Collins.
But the plan is certainly not without problems. Court cells don't have showers or exercise yards - prisoners will have to be transported to prisons for those, and Corrections admits it may breach the Bill of Rights act and international conventions.
Locals living near courthouses have no say because the law change cuts out the usual Resource Management Act process.
"We've used court cells before and prisoners have escaped from them," says Mr Hanlon. "We've had major assaults in them. Court cells are designed to hold people during the day - they don't have beds in them, we just put mattresses on the floor, they don't have recreation areas, they're just not designed to hold prisoners."
The only opposition to the bill came from the Greens, who argued for more emphasis on reducing offending and therefore prison numbers and warn of safety risks of using courthouse facilities. But the Government says in a couple of months inflated prison numbers will mean it simply has no choice.
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