Minister attending justice meeting in Australia

Justice Minister Simon Power leaves today for a meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General in Canberra.

The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) is comprised of the Attorneys-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, its states and territories, and New Zealand's Minister of Justice. Norfolk Island has observer status at SCAG meetings.

SCAG provides a forum for Ministers to discuss matters of mutual interest, progress projects to harmonise laws across jurisdictions, and simplify legal transactions across state and trans-Tasman boundaries.

Mr Power will be making a presentation on his recent trip to Europe where he examined how inquisitorial court systems are used in cases involving child victims.

“I’m looking forward to discussing with my counterparts how aspects of inquisitorial court systems could be adopted to improve how we treat child victims in New Zealand,” Mr Power said.

The theme for this SCAG meeting is classification, with Ministers considering how to improve legislation relating to the classification of video games, online games, and mobile phone applications.

Mr Power returns to New Zealand tomorrow night.