講員介紹

中文簡介：

David Carruthers法官係律師背景出身，曾任紐西蘭少年法庭、家事法庭、地區法庭法官，2005年起擔任全國假釋委員會主席，現負責警察風紀事務，其為推動該國修復式正義司法改革工作的先驅，並曾多次赴國外講習，交流紐西蘭修復式司法成功經驗。

 


英文簡介：
 
David Carruthers worked as a lawyer and was appointed as a district court judge before becoming chairman of the New Zealand Parole Board in 2005. He was head of the Board when it made the decision to release convicted murder, Garaeme Burton, who subsequently went on to murder again. Carruthers subsequently initiated a review of the Board's decision making processes and was responsible introducing tougher procedures. He was knighted in 2009 and in 2012 appointed as head of the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

Early life and career

Carruthers was born and raised in Pahiatua, New Zealand. He attended Victoria University, Wellington where he studied law graduating in 1962. He completed his masters in law passing with honours two years later. He practised law in Wellington and Pahiatua for 20 years before moving to Palmerston North. Carruthers is married and has five children.

In 1985 Carruthers was appointed as a judge in the Family Court in Wellington. Five years later he became a judge in the Youth Court, eventually being appointed as Principal Youth Court Judge. In 2000 Carruthers was asked to lead a Ministerial Taskforce on Youth Offending to come up with initiatives designed to reduce youth crime after Ministry of Justice figures showed that "over the 1990s, offending by 10 to 16 year olds increased by 55%". In 2001 Judge Carruthers was appointed as Chief District Court Judge, a position he held until 2005. That year the Government awarded him a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit - granted to New Zealanders who have "rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, (or) contributions". He was knighted by the Governor-General in 2009.

Public speeches

Carruthers has given speeches at numerous conferences and seminars both in New Zealand and overseas. For many years he has pushed for a more humane approach to dealing with criminal offenders advocating, in particular, for increased use of restorative and therapeutic justice approaches. He has held a number of public and charitable offices and recommended greater focus on education, and interventions for youth and families rather than locking up more and more offenders.

Speaking at a criminology conference in November 2012, Sir David commented on the reduction in New Zealand's crime rate. He said the drop is partly due to a drive to reduce the number of teenagers being suspended or expelled from school. Around 70% of the most serious youth offenders are not in school, and keeping them involved in education is the best way to reduce offending. Figures from the Education Ministry show that the rates at which schools suspend pupils have been declining for the last 12 years, from 7.9 suspensions for every 1000 students in 2000 to 5.2 today. The decline in the suspension rate for Maori students has been the most dramatic - from almost 20 pupils for every 1000 Maori students to under 12.

Chairman of New Zealand Parole Board

Carruthers is best known for his role as Chairman of the New Zealand Parole Board, a position he was appointed to in 2005 and held until 2012. He was head of the Board when it made the decision to release Graeme Burton from prison in July 2006. Six months later Burton shot and killed Karl Kuchenbecker in the hills of Wainuiomata and injured a number of others. The incident led to at least two different inquiries into the management of parolees and many blamed the Parole Board for getting it wrong. Shortly after the murder, Judge Carruthers fronted up for media interviews and spoke about how devastated he felt. He admitted to an "extraordinary sense of personal responsibility" that Burton's release had resulted in two boys losing their father. This was in direct contrast to the response from the chief executive of the Corrections Department, Barry Matthews, who said there was "no blood on my hands" and claimed that Burton's parole was well-managed and that correct procedures were followed.

The Parole Board became more risk-averse after this incident. It tightened up its decision-making procedures as a result of which more inmates are now being kept in prison for longer, and those who are released are committing less crime. Judge Carruthers remained convinced in the value of parole pointing out that "international research shows release with the right to recall was three to four times more successful in preventing reoffending than automatic release at the end of a sentence".

As chairman of the Board, one of Carruthers concerns was the lack of accommodation and support available to prisoners on release. He became an advocate for halfway houses for paroled prisoners. In 2008 he visited Canada, which has over 200 halfway houses funded by the Canadian corrections Service. On his return he said Canada was five to six times more successful in reducing re-offending than New Zealand because of the extensive use of halfway houses. New Zealand has only two such facilities with a total of just 28 beds. At a speech to the Prison Fellowship in 2010, Sir David repeated this point and said the greatest challenge the parole board faced was finding stable accommodation for prisoners on release. Of 269 prisoners on preventive detention, only 16 were out on parole. "It is almost impossible to find stable accommodation for them in the communities of this country. Frankly, they are not wanted. When we have released people, they have been outed, the release has been undermined and [the parolees] returned to prison. Halfway houses would cut reoffending rates", he said.

Head of Independent Police Conduct Authority

In April 2012, Parliament appointed Carruthers as the new chairman of the Independent Police conduct Authority (IPCA). One of his first tasks as the new head was to release a report on deaths in police custody in the last ten years. One of his first public statements was to say he may recommend an extension of the IPCA's powers to include the ability to prosecute officers who break the rules - after the police were accused of a "scandalous delay" of more than three years in investigating an assault on Jakob Christie, who suffered a fractured vertebra when police closed down a party in Khandallah Wellington in September 2009. An editorial in the Dominion Post suggested the police response to the case indicated a lack of respect for the IPCA and said: "If the authority could prosecute errant officers, perhaps police would pay it more attention.