Criminal Justice Reform Bill passed

Justice Minister Mark Burton today welcomed the passing of the Criminal Justice Reform Bill by Parliament last night.

"Taken as package this Criminal Justice Reform legislation and the Effective Interventions policy to which gives effect, provides a significant enhancement of prevention and early intervention initiatives, sentencing and sentence options, including Restorative Justice, and the treatment and rehabilitation tools available in the criminal justice system," said Mark Burton.

Changes to the Parole Act 2002 mean that offenders sentenced to twelve months imprisonment will serve their whole sentence. Offenders sentenced to more than twelve months imprisonment will have to serve two thirds of the sentence imposed before being eligible to be considered for parole.

“This means that the victim, the offender, and everyone else can be certain that the offender will serve the majority of the sentence before even being considered for parole,” said Mark Burton.

A number of measures are included in this Bill that will enhance the Board’s ability consider offenders for Parole while upholding its primary and paramount concern for public safety: The Parole Act will be amended to make it clear that release on parole is a privilege and not a right. The Parole Board will be given the power to make confidentiality orders, which will help to ensure that the Board is in possession of all the relevant information when it is considering a case. The Commissioner of Police will be given the right to apply for the recall of a parolee to prison in limited circumstances. The Parole Board will be given the power to summon witnesses.

“The Bill establishes a range of measures to address the sharp increase in the prison population in recent years. New Zealand’s prison population is now over 8,000 and continued increases are not socially or economically sustainable.

The Bill contains provisions that will give the courts more sentencing options and increase certainty in the penalties handed down by the courts.

“For some offenders prison is not the answer. By giving judges a greater range of non-custodial sentences, Judges have the ability to tailor the sentence to help an offender address the causes of their offending.” Home detention becomes a sentence in its own right rather than a way of serving a sentence of imprisonment as it is currently.

“Home detention is a proven, successful measure for selected offenders and I am confident that the courts will welcome it as a useful alternative to a short sentence of imprisonment in appropriate cases. Home detention has low reconviction and re-imprisonment rates when compared to prison sentences and high levels of compliance by offenders.”

The Bill also creates two new community-based sentences – community detention and intensive supervision – that will provide a higher level of restriction and supervision of offenders than either of the existing community-based sentences. Community-based sentences will also have a greater emphasis on the acquisition of basic work and living skills, while ensuring the offender remains accountable to the community.

“These new sentences are intended to be used for less serious offenders who do not require imprisonment. The Government is not relaxing its hard line on serious and repeat offenders – imprisonment will continue to be the only option for those who pose an ongoing risk to the community,” said Hon Mark Burton.

A major new development provided for in the Bill is the establishment of a sentencing council to issue sentencing and parole guidelines to address issues of consistency and transparency in sentencing, particularly for less serious offending. “Inconsistency in sentencing is clearly unsatisfactory and unfair. The punishment an offender receives should not depend on the location where he or she happens to appear for sentence.”
The Bill also extends the Prisoners and Victims claims Act this restricts compensation for inmates to exceptional cases, and assist victims of crime to pursue compensation from offenders in those cases for the harm and loss they have suffered.

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