The Sexual Violence Pilot Court: A Missed Opportunity for a Tailor-Made Solution

Abstract

The Sexual Violence Pilot Court (SVPC) seeks to lessen complainant retraumatisation by reducing time delay before trial. This paper posits that the SVPC is a missed opportunity for a legislated, well-planned court with an expansive mandate, shaped by public and expert input. Instead, the SVPC is not truly a court, but a limited approach that has been shaped by politics and social pressure. Consequently, it has imported features from overseas that do not match New Zealand’s legal context or account for Māori overrepresentation in sexual violence statistics. Further, the SVPC faces practical problems of longevity and rollout to other locations. Finally, no consideration was given to possible lessons from similar failed projects. The SVPC is a reactive, political solution that is mismatched to the issue of sexual violence in New Zealand. Nonetheless, the SVPC achieves some benefits. This paper suggests improvements to the SVPC to bolster benefits and make up the missed opportunity of an effective, robustly designed, legislatively-protected court for all New Zealanders.