14 Mar 2016

Violence reports for judges could roll out

7:09 pm on 14 March 2016

A piloted programme giving judges more information about a defendant's history of family violence at bail hearings is set to be extended.

The programme has been tested in Porirua and Christchurch since last September.

Though that test had not yet been fully evaluated, the judiciary, Ministry of Justice and the Police were talking about other centres taking it up.

Judges involved in the programme were given reports covering any previous convictions, protection orders and breaches - including any previous relationships.

Up until now they were not given all that information, which the government had said was a concern.