Latest news with #JusticeMinister

RNZ News
13 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Same-day election enrolments to be scrapped in electoral law overhaul
The legislation sets a requirement of 12 days advance voting at each election. Photo: NZ ELECTORAL COMMISSION Same-day enrolment for elections is set to be scrapped, with the government announcing legislation to overhaul electoral laws it says have become unsustainable. Previously, voters have been able to turn up to the booth at any time during the advance voting period and enrol at the same time, as well as on election day, with their vote being counted as a special vote. Justice minister Paul Goldsmith said late enrolments, while well intentioned, were resource intensive and had placed too much strain on the system. "The final vote count used to take two weeks, last election it took three," he said. "If we leave things as they are, it could well take even longer in future elections. The 20-day timeframe for a final result will likely already be challenging to achieve at the next election without changes." The government has agreed to close enrolment before advance voting begins, with people needing to enrol or update their details by midnight on the Sunday before advance voting starts on the Monday morning (in other words, 13 days before election day). The legislation sets a requirement of 12 days advance voting at each election, and the changes would mean special vote processing could get underway sooner. Justice minister Paul Goldsmith says late enrolments, while well intentioned, are resource intensive and has placed too much strain on the system. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii The Electoral Amendment Bill contains some other changes, including the introduction of automatic enrolment updates so the Electoral Commission can update a person's address directly following a data match. The process would not be used for new enrolments, to allow for Māori to choose whether to enrol on the general roll or Māori roll when they first enrol. Postal requirements for enrolment will be removed, to acknowledge the decline of postal services. Free food, drink or entertainment within 100m of a voting place will be made an offence, punishable with a fine of $10,000. "There has been some confusion in the past around what is and isn't treating. This will make the rules crystal clear," Goldsmith said. The ban on prisoner voting, which the government had already announced, will also be included in the bill. In addition, the donation threshold for reporting the names of donors will be adjusted from $5,000 to $6,000 to account for inflation. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Lebanon cannot call itself a state without answers to Beirut port explosion, says Justice Minister
Lebanon 'cannot pretend' to be a state if answers are not found to questions about the deadly Beirut port explosion in 2020, the country's Justice Minister has said. No one has been held accountable for one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, which killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and flattened large parts of the Lebanese capital. Nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored at the port for years exploded on August 4 that year despite repeated warnings to the authorities. Physical wounds are visible across Beirut, while the mental and emotional scars linger for its people every day, but justice appears elusive. The tragedy exposed the deep-rooted corruption and negligence at the heart of Lebanon 's dysfunctional political and judicial systems. Efforts to investigate the explosion have been repeatedly frustrated by political interference, legal challenges and the removal of lead investigators, leaving victims' families still searching for answers five years later. Tarek Bitar, the current investigative judge, has been threatened and faced challenges in summoning the senior figures he has fought to interrogate. He is finally making some progress after years of constant impediments – although a long road ahead remains. 'When you have a blast of the dramatic impact of the port blast, a state that is not able to give answers and ensure accountability to its citizens is a state not fulfilling its role,' said Justice Minister Adel Nassar. 'I understand the families, all the victims, that they want a decision as soon as possible. But I think they understand that the main criteria is to ensure he [Mr Bitar] completed his work and he got sufficient evidence supporting his findings,' Mr Nassar told The National in an interview at his office in Beirut, days before the fifth anniversary of the explosion. Mr Nassar assumed the role earlier this year in the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, himself a former judge and former chief of the International Court of Justice. Mr Salam's team has sought to bring about reform in a country long plagued by institutional malaise, and the Prime Minister has repeatedly said that accountability over the blast is one his key objectives. 'It's one of the priorities and nobody will accept that this major dramatic event remains without answers, without a trial, without a proper judicial system acting in this respect,' said Mr Nassar. Justice delayed Mr Bitar's investigation has been fraught with challenges from the start. He was not the original lead judge in the immediate aftermath of the explosion and, at one point, was stripped of his authority by Lebanon's then leading prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat – who himself had been charged in connection with the case. Mr Bitar also faced a barrage of lawsuits filed by senior officials seeking to avoid interrogation. But, in January, he reopened the case again. Shortly after, his powers were reinstalled by Lebanon's new lead prosecutor and some – although not all – high officials who resisted interrogation for months, if not years, eventually appeared for questioning. Mr Oueidat, however, refused on Thursday to be notified of a hearing scheduled by Mr Bitar for questioning on Monday as a suspect in the case. The investigation's reactivation has coincided with the arrival of a new president and a reform-minded government, raising cautious hopes for a shift in approach. 'Maybe there is a coincidence between my arrival to the ministry and the fact that he [Mr Bitar] is being able to conduct his work without obstacles,' said Mr Nassar. 'A coincidence?' The National asked. 'Why not?' the Minister responded, with a smile and shrug of his shoulders. Mr Nassar said he has no formal role in the investigation, and that no good justice minister should have one in this case or any other. 'It's clear that the Ministry is not in charge of the investigation and is not supposed to interfere in the investigation. And I'm clearly not interfering,' Mr Nassar said. 'My role is to ensure that the investigative judge will have all the tools he may require to continue his work and to prevent any political interference in his work.' He added: 'I tried to support any requirements or demand he brought, I'm very happy that French investigative judges came to Lebanon to share information with him,' referring to a French delegation that was on the ground two weeks after the blast and was allowed to share its findings with Mr Bitar once the investigation resumed. The contents of the French findings are not known to Mr Nassar, but it is hoped the exchange of information between judicial officials will support the case. 'I made the contacts to ensure that they could come and share information. But I didn't even meet them, it's not my role to meet them. 'We really have to respect the separation of powers in Lebanon. In a democracy, you have a proper separation. I am a minister, I am not supposed to ask questions regarding the merit of a judge's work.' Mr Nassar said he has ensured there is proper co-operation between Mr Bitar and Lebanon's lead prosecutor. He also reiterated his solidarity with families of the victims. 'It is one of the most terrible crimes that occurred. It is the duty of the state to give this file a full effort, because we cannot pretend we have a state, and at the same time, not be able to address this terrible blast,' he said.

The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Lebanon cannot call itself a state without answers to Beirut blast, says Justice Minister
Lebanon 'cannot pretend' to be a state if answers are not found over the deadly 2020 Beirut port blast, the country's Justice Minister has said. No one has been held accountable for one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, which killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated large parts of the Lebanese capital. The explosion was caused by the detonation of nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored at the port for years, despite repeated warnings to Lebanese authorities. The physical wounds are still present throughout Beirut, while the mental and emotional scars linger for its people every day, with justice still out of reach. The tragedy exposed the deep-rooted corruption, negligence and dysfunction at the heart of Lebanon 's political and judicial systems. Efforts to investigate the blast have been repeatedly obstructed by political interference, legal challenges and the removal of lead investigators, leaving victims' families still searching for answers five years later. The current investigative judge Tarek Bitar has previously been threatened and faced challenges summoning senior figures he has fought to interrogate. He is finally making some progress after years of constant impediments - although a long road ahead remains. 'When you have a blast of the dramatic impact of the port blast, a state that is not able to give answers and ensure accountability to its citizens is a state not fulfilling its role,' said Justice Minister Adel Nassar. 'I understand the families, all the victims, that they want a decision as soon as possible. But I think they understand that the main criteria is to ensure he [Mr Bitar] completed his work and he got sufficient evidence supporting his findings,' Mr Nassar told The National in an interview at his office in Beirut, days before the fifth anniversary of the explosion. Mr Nassar assumed the role earlier this year in the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, himself a former judge and former chief of the International Court of Justice. Mr Salam's team has sought to bring about reform in a country long plagued by institutional malaise, and the Premier has repeatedly said that accountability over the blast is one his key objectives. 'It's one of the priorities and nobody will accept that this major dramatic event remains without answers, without a trial, without a proper judicial system acting in this respect,' said Mr Nassar. Justice delayed Judge Bitar's investigation has been fraught with challenges from the start. He was not the original lead judge in the immediate aftermath of the explosion and, at one point, was stripped of his authority by Lebanon's then-top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat — who himself had been charged in connection with the case. Mr Bitar also faced a barrage of lawsuits filed by senior officials seeking to avoid interrogation. But in January he reopened the case again. Shortly after, his powers were reinstalled by Lebanon's new top prosecutor and some – although not all – top officials who resisted interrogation for months, if not years, eventually appeared for questioning. Mr Oueidat, however, refused on Thursday to be notified of a hearing scheduled by Mr Bitar for questioning on Monday as a suspect in the case. The investigation's reactivation has coincided with the arrival of a new president and a reform-minded government, raising cautious hopes for a shift in approach. 'Maybe there is a coincidence between my arrival to the ministry and the fact that he [Mr Bitar] is being able to conduct his work without obstacles,' said Mr Nassar. "A coincidence?" The National asked. 'Why not?' the Minister responded, with a smile and shrug of his shoulders. Mr Nassar said he has no formal role in the investigation, and that no good justice minister should have one in this case or any other. 'It's clear that the Ministry is not in charge of the investigation and is not supposed to interfere in the investigation. And I'm clearly not interfering," Mr Nassar said. 'My role is to ensure that the investigative judge will have all the tools he may require to continue his work and to prevent any political interference in his work." He added: "I tried to support any requirements or demand he brought, I'm very happy that French investigative judges came to Lebanon to share information with him,' referring to a French judicial delegation that was on the ground two weeks after the blast and was allowed to share its findings with Mr Bitar once the investigation resumed. The contents of the French findings are not known to Mr Nassar, but it is hoped the exchange of information between judicial officials will support the case. 'I made the contacts to ensure that they could come and share information. But I didn't even meet them, it's not my role to meet them. 'We really have to respect the separation of powers in Lebanon. In a democracy, you have a proper separation. I am a minister, I am not supposed to ask questions regarding the merit of a judge's work.' Mr Nassar said he has ensured there is proper co-operation between Mr Bitar and Lebanon's top prosecutor. He also reiterated his solidarity with families of the victims. 'It is one of the most terrible crimes that occurred. It is the duty of the state to give this file a full effort, because we cannot pretend we have a state, and at the same time, not be able to address this terrible blast,' he said.


The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Lebanon seeks deal to send inmates of overcrowded prison to Syria
Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar says proposed treaty will not apply to those convicted of terrorism or murder.


Bloomberg
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
New Caledonia Groups Sign Accord on French Territory's Future
Opposing groups from the French overseas territory of New Caledonia reached an agreement that aims to set out its future status following riots that rocked the Pacific archipelago last year. The draft deal signed early Saturday among the groups and the government would create a New Caledonia state that would nevertheless remain part of France, according to a post by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou. While details of the agreement weren't immediately released, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a post on X that it includes 'expanded local powers, an unfreezing of the electorate and possible international recognition.'