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

17: Imprisonment may be imposed if offender unlikely to comply with other sentences

You could also call this:

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

If you break the law, a court can decide what happens to you. The court can send you to prison if it thinks you won't follow other sentences it could give you. The court must have good reasons to think you won't comply with the other sentence.

You can find more information about this by looking at the Sentencing Act 2002 and similar laws, such as the one from 1985 No 120 s 9. The court's decision is based on what it thinks is best in your situation. It considers what sentence would be appropriate for you.

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This page was last updated on 26 June 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM135560.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help

16: Sentence of imprisonment, or

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

18: Limitation on imprisonment of person under 18 years, or

"Young people under 18 usually don't go to prison for committing a crime, unless it's very serious."

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

17Imprisonment may be imposed if offender unlikely to comply with other sentences

Nothing in this Part limits the discretion of a court to impose a sentence of imprisonment on an offender if the court is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the offender is unlikely to comply with any other sentence that it could lawfully impose and that would otherwise be appropriate.

Compare

1985 No 120 s 9