The changes are being introduced in response to upticks in violent crime
The government is set to present to parliament sentencing reforms intended to address upticks in violent crime.
“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”, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said. “These changes will help ensure there are 20,000 fewer victims of violent crime by 2029, alongside reducing serious repeat youth offending by 15%”.
Among the reforms pitched are the following:
- limiting sentence discounts in light of mitigating factors to 40%, except in cases where this would lead to manifestly unjust sentencing outcomes
- prohibiting repeat discounts for youth and remorse, addressing concerns that lenient sentences have not effectively deterred repeat offenders who rely on these factors without demonstrating genuine efforts to reform
- introducing a new aggravating factor to address serious retail crime in cases involving sole charge workers or individuals whose homes and businesses are connected, in line with commitments in the National-Act coalition agreement
- pushing for the application of cumulative sentencing for offences committed while on bail, in custody, or on parole in line with commitments made in the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement, as a way to denounce behaviours that show disregard for the criminal justice system
- introducing a sliding scale for early guilty pleas that has a maximum sentence discount of 25%, dropping to maximum of 5% per cent for guilty pleas entered during a trial, as a way to prevent undue discounts for late-stage guilty pleas and avoid unnecessary trials
- modifying sentencing principles to require courts to consider information provided regarding victims’ interests, in line with commitments made in both coalition agreements
Two aggravating factors have also been added to address adults exploiting children and youth through assisting in or abetting their offences and to deal with offenders publicising their crimes through livestreams or online posts.
“These provisions have been transferred from the Ram Raids Bill currently before the select committee to ensure amendments to the Sentencing Act are considered together as part of a comprehensive package”, Goldsmith explained. “These changes make it clear that social media should not be used to celebrate or promote criminal activity, and that adults should not exploit children and young people in the commission of crimes”.
The proposal will go before parliament this week.
