The Government has agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week in a bid to strengthen the nation’s criminal justice system.
Justice Minister, Paul Goldsmith said the reforms will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and see that victims are prioritised.
The proposed reforms include:
- Capping the sentence discounts that judges can apply at 40% when considering mitigating factors unless it would result in manifestly unjust sentencing outcomes.
- Preventing repeat discounts for youth and remorse. Lenient sentences are failing to deter offenders who continue to rely on their youth or expressions of remorse without making serious efforts to reform their behaviour.
- Responding to serious retail crime by introducing a new aggravating factor to address offences against sole charge workers and those whose home and business are interconnected, as committed to in the National-Act coalition agreement.
- Encouraging the use of cumulative sentencing for offences committed while on bail, in custody, or on parole to denounce behaviour that indicates a disregard for the criminal justice system, as committed to in the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement.
- Implementing a sliding scale for early guilty pleas with a maximum sentence discount of 25%, reducing to a maximum of 5 per cent for a guilty plea entered during the trial. This will prevent undue discounts for late-stage guilty pleas and avoid unnecessary trials that are costly and stressful for victims.
- Amending the principles of sentencing to include requirement to take into account any information provided to the court about victims’ interests, as committed to in both coalition agreements.
“In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences despite a 33% increase in violent crime,” said Minister Goldsmith.
“Public confidence in the ability of our sentencing system to deter and denounce offending has diminished.
“These changes will help ensure there are 20,000 fewer victims of violent crime by 2029, alongside reducing serious repeat youth offending by 15%.”
The Government has also confirmed two additional aggravating factors will be added to the Bill, the Minister confirmed.
These respond to:
- Adults who exploit children and young people by aiding or abetting them to offend;
- Offenders who glorify their criminal activities by livestreaming or posting them online.
“These provisions have been transferred from the Ram Raids Bill that is currently before select committee so that amendments to the Sentencing Act can be considered together as a coherent package,” said the Minister.
“These changes send a clear message that social media cannot be a tool to glorify or celebrate the actions of callous individuals, and nor should adults exploit children and young people in the commission of crimes.
“Communities and hardworking Kiwis should not be made to live and work in fear of these offenders who clearly have a flagrant disregard for the law, corrections officers and the general public,” he said.
