E/CN.4/2006/78/Add.3 page 15 foreshore and seabed without sufficient redress or compensation, but excludes certain properties already held in individual freehold. The Government states that there are basic distinctions between the very limited existing freehold titles and the claimed customary interests. The Act provides a statutory process for the recognition of customary or aboriginal title founded on exclusive use and occupation, which the common law would have recognized. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, the Act can be seen as a step backward for Maori in relation to the progressive recognition of their rights through the Treaty Settlement Process over recent years. D. Administration of justice 56. Everyone charged with an offence has a right, under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, to language interpretation if needed which includes the use of indigenous language, having documents served and filed in Maori. This right is also recognized in the Maori Language Act 1987. The courts must also have regard to the different traditions of ethnic groups who use the system. New legislation has been adopted following a report in 2000, by the Ministry of Justice, which found that this provision was underutilized, with only 14 per cent of survey respondents perceiving that it was used as frequently as it could be. 57. According to information provided to the Special Rapporteur, Maori are three times more likely to be apprehended for an offence than non-Maori, and four times more likely to be apprehended for violent crime. Prosecution rates are considerably higher for Maori than for nonMaori (88 against 18 per 1,000). Conviction rates are 50 per 1,000 for Maori compared to 12 per 1,000 for non-Maori. Although they represent 13 per cent of the population over 14 years of age, in 1988 Maori accounted for 40 per cent of all arrests, 41 per cent of all prosecuted cases, and 44 per cent of all people convicted, Maori make up around 50 per cent of the prison population. This pattern arguably represents the underlying institutional and structural discrimination that Maori have long suffered. 58. The Ministry of Justice and the Department of Corrections have initiated a number of programmes to address this issue. In partnership with Maori, these programmes have focused on engaging with local communities and Kaitiaki, groups that are recognized Maori guardians of resources in the geographical region of a prison. Reducing youth offending, and the overrepresentation of young Maori in the youth justice system, continues to be a priority for the Government. Though the Ministry of Justice does not believe that ethnicity is a main cause for crime, it considers that the current disparities justify targeted programmes and recommends that increased emphasis be placed on evaluation of ethnically targeted crime prevention and reduction programmes. E. Language, culture and education 59. During the nineteenth and most of the twentieth century, cultural and educational policy was based on the premise that Maori would and should assimilate into the dominant English culture. A Maori cultural revivalist movement in the early part of the century had limited impact on the overall society. Only as a result of the social protest movements by Maori in the 1970s and 1980s did human rights issues become politically relevant and led to important changes in legislation, government policies and social awareness among the rest of society. In 1985 the Waitangi Tribunal declared the Maori language to be a treasure (taonga), to be protected under the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi. Maori was first recognized as an official language in the Maori Language Act 1987, which established the Maori Language Commission to promote