Beware the shy crook

“It does not pay to be a shy criminal in New Zealand,” Tim Dick writes in an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald. “On this side of the Tasman, if you are invisible to the press before your arrest and conviction, you can go to jail and rest easy-ish in your cell no matter how grave your crime. They can’t get your picture. In New Zealand, justice takes a more open, matter-of-fact approach: as long as cameras don’t disrupt court proceedings, pictures can be taken, including photos of people in the dock. The more open the courts, the more likely the public will take a look inside, the more likely they will see a system that works well, and the less likely they will be to believe hysterical faux outrage over a supposed tendency of lenient sentences. New Zealand’s justice system hasn’t dissolved in a heap after allowing cameras in court. It’s about time Australia’s followed suit.”