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Sentencing Act 2002

Sentences, orders, and related matters - Community-based sentences - Community detention

69B: Sentence of community detention

You could also call this:

"Community detention: staying at home as punishment for a crime"

Illustration for Sentencing Act 2002

If you commit a crime, a court can sentence you to community detention. This can happen if you are found guilty of a crime that can be punished with prison time, or if the law that applies to your crime says that community detention is an option. The court decides how long your community detention will last, but it cannot be more than 6 months. When the court sentences you to community detention, it must also decide when and where you will have to stay at home.

The court will tell you when you have to be at home, and this is called a curfew period. The curfew period must be at least 2 hours long, and you cannot be required to stay at home for more than 84 hours in a week. Even though you have to stay at home during your curfew period, you are not considered to be in custody during that time.

The court will also tell you which address you have to stay at during your curfew period, and this is called your curfew address. This law was inserted as part of the Sentencing Amendment Act 2007. You will have to follow the rules of your community detention, or you might face further consequences.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM136069.

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Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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69A: Extension during epidemic of period within which community work must be done, or

"More time to do community work during an epidemic"

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69C: Guidance on use of sentence of community detention, or

"Guidance on Community Detention: Staying at Home as Punishment for Breaking the Law"

Part 2Sentences, orders, and related matters
Community-based sentences: Community detention

69BSentence of community detention

  1. A court may sentence an offender to community detention if—

  2. the offender is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment; or
    1. the offender is convicted of an offence and the enactment prescribing the offence expressly provides that a sentence of home detention may be imposed on conviction; or
      1. the offender is convicted of an offence and the enactment prescribing the offence expressly provides that a community-based sentence may be imposed on conviction.

        1. The sentence term may be for a period, being no more than 6 months, that the court thinks fit.

        2. The court must specify the curfew period and the curfew address when sentencing the offender to a sentence of community detention.

        3. Every curfew period specified under subsection (3) must not be for a period of less than 2 hours, and the total of every curfew period for any week must not be more than 84 hours.

        4. An offender is not in custody during the curfew period.

        Notes
        • Section 69B: inserted, on , by section 33 of the Sentencing Amendment Act 2007 (2007 No 27).