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Sentencing Act 2002

Sentencing purposes and principles, and provisions of general application - Sentencing procedure

27: Offender may request court to hear person on personal, family, whanau, community, and cultural background of offender

You could also call this:

"You can ask the court to hear from someone who knows you and your background."

Illustration for Sentencing Act 2002

When you appear in court for sentencing, you can ask the court to hear from someone who can talk about your personal life, family, whanau, community, and cultural background. You can also ask the court to hear about how these things might have contributed to you committing the offence. The court will listen to this person unless there is a special reason not to.

The court has to give a reason if they decide not to listen to the person you asked to speak. If the court needs time to arrange for this person to speak, they can delay the proceedings. If you do not ask for someone to speak on your behalf, the court might suggest that it could be helpful to hear from someone about your background and how it relates to the offence.

You can ask the court to hear about what support your family, whanau, or community can offer to help you not offend again, and how this might be relevant when the court is deciding on a sentence, you can find more information about this in the Sentencing Act 2002 which is similar to section 16 of the 1985 act.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM135583.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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Part 1Sentencing purposes and principles, and provisions of general application
Sentencing procedure

27Offender may request court to hear person on personal, family, whanau, community, and cultural background of offender

  1. If an offender appears before a court for sentencing, the offender may request the court to hear any person or persons called by the offender to speak on—

  2. the personal, family, whanau, community, and cultural background of the offender:
    1. the way in which that background may have related to the commission of the offence:
      1. any processes that have been tried to resolve, or that are available to resolve, issues relating to the offence, involving the offender and his or her family, whanau, or community and the victim or victims of the offence:
        1. how support from the family, whanau, or community may be available to help prevent further offending by the offender:
          1. how the offender's background, or family, whanau, or community support may be relevant in respect of possible sentences.

            1. The court must hear a person or persons called by the offender under this section on any of the matters specified in subsection (1) unless the court is satisfied that there is some special reason that makes this unnecessary or inappropriate.

            2. If the court declines to hear a person called by the offender under this section, the court must give reasons for doing so.

            3. Without limiting any other powers of a court to adjourn, the court may adjourn the proceedings to enable arrangements to be made to hear a person or persons under this section.

            4. If an offender does not make a request under this section, the court may suggest to the offender that it may be of assistance to the court to hear a person or persons called by the offender on any of the matters specified in subsection (1).

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