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Sentencing Act 2002

Sentencing purposes and principles, and provisions of general application - General provisions about discharge without conviction, etc, and imposition of reparation, fines, community-based sentences, sentences of home detention, and imprisonment

16: Sentence of imprisonment

You could also call this:

"Going to prison as a punishment for doing something wrong"

Illustration for Sentencing Act 2002

When you do something wrong, a court might think about sending you to prison. The court wants to keep you in the community if it is safe to do so. The court will only send you to prison if it thinks prison is the best option for you. This means the court must think that prison is needed to punish you, help you change, or keep the community safe, and that no other sentence would be fair, according to the principles in section 8 and the purposes in section 7(1)(a) to (c), (e), (f), or (g). There are some exceptions to this rule, such as when another law says the court must or must not send you to prison for a particular offence.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM135559.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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17: Imprisonment may be imposed if offender unlikely to comply with other sentences, or

"The court can send you to prison if it thinks you won't follow other punishments."

Part 1Sentencing purposes and principles, and provisions of general application
General provisions about discharge without conviction, etc, and imposition of reparation, fines, community-based sentences, sentences of home detention, and imprisonment

16Sentence of imprisonment

  1. When considering the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment for any particular offence, the court must have regard to the desirability of keeping offenders in the community as far as that is practicable and consonant with the safety of the community.

  2. The court must not impose a sentence of imprisonment unless it is satisfied that,—

  3. a sentence is being imposed for all or any of the purposes in section 7(1)(a) to (c), (e), (f), or (g); and
    1. those purposes cannot be achieved by a sentence other than imprisonment; and
      1. no other sentence would be consistent with the application of the principles in section 8 to the particular case.

        1. This section is subject to any provision in this or any other enactment that—

        2. provides a presumption in favour of or against imposing a sentence of imprisonment in relation to a particular offence; or
          1. requires a court to impose a sentence of imprisonment in relation to a particular offence.

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