Chak Au

Mr. Speaker, we have heard from many members of Parliament today that they have received a lot of responses from a wide range of religious groups and leaders. On the other hand, we keep hearing from the other side that people and religious leaders are being misled or are being fed misinformation, as if this is an insult or a put-down to these groups. Does my colleague want to comment on that? Is [more]

Thank you very much. I'm glad I have more time to ask questions. I want to ask a question about case management, because you mentioned that you use the case management approach. In your case, which department is the primary gatekeeper for case management to make sure that the ball is not being dropped? Is it the correctional department, the justice department or the police?

Thank you.

You seem to have a very effective and also a very tight timeline for processing those deportation cases. How successful have you been in following the timeline? Is it that in most cases you were able to fit into the timeline you specified in the process?

New Zealand's humanitarian appeal test requires exceptional circumstances, or unjust or unduly harsh impacts. How often were the criminals able to use that kind of test to avoid being deported?

My final question is about case management—

Your minister has the absolute discretion to cancel or suspend deportation liability. How has it been, in your experience, with allowing the minister to have that power? Has it been abused? Have people been accused of inconsistency or does it give the minister too much power?

Yes, I asked that question because, in Canada, we've seen cases in which the judge cut down the sentence to avoid the person being deported. I find this to be very enlightening. We are stuck between the concern over public safety and human rights. Again, how do you strike a balance between public safety concerns and also safeguarding human rights, especially in cases such as people who have [more]

Once again, thank you for participating in the hearing. I have a few questions, so I will just go right into them. I want to get some clarification. I read the background information, and it seems to me that in New Zealand a person can be deported if there is a certain time of imprisonment, even if the judge's sentencing doesn't require it.

For example, in your case, if the offence was committed within the first five years of obtaining residence, the court has the power to impose a sentence of at least two years in prison. Then, the court can sentence less than what is permissible, but the prisoner can still be deported.