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Sentencing Act 2002

Sentences, orders, and related matters - Sentencing for murder - Presumption in relation to sentence for murder

102: Presumption in favour of life imprisonment for murder

You could also call this:

"Murder is usually punished with life in prison unless it's clearly unfair."

Illustration for Sentencing Act 2002

If you are found guilty of murder, you will usually be sentenced to life in prison. This is because the law says that life imprisonment is the normal sentence for murder, unless the circumstances of the crime and the person who committed it make this sentence clearly unfair. You will only not get a life sentence if the court thinks it would be manifestly unjust, which is a legal term that means obviously or clearly unfair. If the court does not give you a life sentence, it must write down its reasons for this decision.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM136497.

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Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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101: Start date of sentence of imprisonment, or

"When does your time in prison start?"

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103: Imposition of minimum period of imprisonment or imprisonment without parole if life imprisonment imposed for murder, or

"When you get life in prison for murder, the court decides how long you must stay in prison before you can ask to be released."

Part 2Sentences, orders, and related matters
Sentencing for murder: Presumption in relation to sentence for murder

102Presumption in favour of life imprisonment for murder

  1. An offender who is convicted of murder must be sentenced to imprisonment for life unless, given the circumstances of the offence and the offender, a sentence of imprisonment for life would be manifestly unjust.

  2. If a court does not impose a sentence of imprisonment for life on an offender convicted of murder, it must give written reasons for not doing so.

  3. Repealed
Notes
  • Section 102(3): repealed, on , by section 7 of the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Act 2022 (2022 No 40).