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

18: Limitation on imprisonment of person under 18 years

You could also call this:

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

If you commit a crime when you are under 18 years old, you usually cannot be sent to prison. This rule does not apply if you commit a very serious crime, like a category 4 offence, or a category 3 offence that can have a prison sentence of 14 years or more, or a sentence of life imprisonment. You can find more information about this by looking at the Sentencing Act 2002 and other related laws, such as the Oranga Tamariki Legislation Act 2019.

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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=DLM135561.

Topics:

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

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."

19: Permitted combinations of sentences, or

"What sentences can be given together when you break the law?"

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

18Limitation on imprisonment of person under 18 years

No court may impose a sentence of imprisonment on an offender in respect of a particular offence, other than a category 4 offence, or a category 3 offence for which the maximum penalty available is or includes imprisonment for life or for at least 14 years, if, at the time of the commission of the offence, the offender was under the age of 18 years.
Repealed

Compare

1985 No 120 s 8

Notes

Section 18 heading: amended, on 1 July 2019, by section 55(1) of the Oranga Tamariki Legislation Act 2019 (2019 No 30).
Section 18(1): amended, on 1 July 2019, by section 55(2) of the Oranga Tamariki Legislation Act 2019 (2019 No 30).
Section 18(1): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 7 of the Sentencing Amendment Act (No 2) 2011 (2011 No 93).
Section 18(2): repealed, on 1 July 2013, by section 7 of the Sentencing Amendment Act (No 2) 2011 (2011 No 93).