ABSTRACT. Those caught up in criminal court processes are often seen as ‘undeserving’ of kindness. However, specialist courts based on the principles of non-adversarial justice use legal processes in an empathetic manner to give voice to defendants and address their health and social needs. Using Clegg and Rowland’s conceptualisation of kindness, this paper examines the performance of kindness in one specialist court, Te Kōti o Timatanga Hou. Drawing on a qualitative evaluation of the court, we examine three elements of this performance: 1) active listening, being heard, and building connections; 2) kindness as a collective effort; and 3) the tough edge of kindness. Despite the confines of the largely monocultural, Pākehā (New Zealand European) criminal justice system in which Māori and Pasifika are over-represented, the court performs a kindness that can be transformative for court participants and the court process itself.

Keywords: kindness; solution-focused courts; non-adversarial justice; Māori; Pasifika; homelessness

How to cite: Mills, A., Thom, K., Black, S., and Quince, K. (2021). “Kindness in Court in Aotearoa New Zealand,” Knowledge Cultures 9(3): 54–75. doi: 10.22381/kc9320214.

Received 23 July 2021 • Received in revised form 31 October 2021
Accepted 3 November 2021 • Available online 1 December 2021