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Oranga Tamariki Act 1989

Provisions relating to procedure in Youth Court - Lay advocates

327: Functions of lay advocate

You could also call this:

"A lay advocate helps the court understand cultural things and represents the child's family and community."

Illustration for Oranga Tamariki Act 1989

If you are a lay advocate, your main jobs are to help the court understand important cultural things about the case. You do this by making sure the court knows about cultural matters that are relevant to what is happening. You also represent the interests of the child's or young person's family and community, like their whanau, hapu, and iwi, if nobody else is doing this for them in the court case, which was set up under section 326.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM154040.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpMāori affairs > Treaty of WaitangiFamily and relationships > Children and parenting
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326: Appointment of lay advocate, or

"The court can choose a special helper, called a lay advocate, to support you in the Youth Court."

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328: Further provisions relating to lay advocate, or

"Rules for lay advocates helping kids in court"

Part 5Provisions relating to procedure in Youth Court
Lay advocates

327Functions of lay advocate

  1. The principal functions of a lay advocate appointed under section 326 are as follows:

  2. to ensure that the court is made aware of all cultural matters that are relevant to the proceedings:
    1. to represent the interests of the child's or young person's whanau, hapu, and iwi (or their equivalents (if any) in the culture of the child or young person) to the extent that those interests are not otherwise represented in the proceedings.