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Corrections Act 2004

Corrections system - Statutory roles and responsibilities - Minister, chief executive, and Commissioner of Police

7: Powers and functions of Minister

You could also call this:

"The Minister's jobs and responsibilities in charge of corrections in New Zealand"

The Minister has some important jobs, including deciding what land or buildings will be used as community work centres or prisons, as stated in section 30 or section 32. You can think of the Minister as someone who helps make big decisions about corrections in New Zealand. The Minister also gets to decide how much prisoners can earn while they are in prison, according to section 66.

The Minister has to figure out how much it costs to keep prisoners each week, so that some of their earnings can be taken away, as mentioned in section 68. The Minister puts official notices in the Gazette, as required by section 170, and sends copies of prison contracts to the House of Representatives, following section 199I. The Minister can also give instructions to the person in charge of corrections.

The Minister can tell the chief executive what to do when it comes to making big decisions, but only in general, not about specific people. When the Minister gives these instructions, they have to make them public in the Gazette and show them to the House of Representatives as soon as possible.

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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=DLM295403.

Topics:
Government and voting > Government departmentsCrime and justice > Criminal law
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6: Principles guiding corrections system, or

"Rules to keep people safe and fair in the corrections system"

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8: Powers and functions of chief executive, or

"The boss of corrections makes sure the system is fair and safe for everyone."

Part 2Corrections system
Statutory roles and responsibilities: Minister, chief executive, and Commissioner of Police

7Powers and functions of Minister

  1. The Minister has the following powers and functions:

  2. declaring land or buildings to be a community work centre or prison in accordance with section 30 or section 32:
    1. approving rates of earnings for prisoners in accordance with section 66:
      1. fixing the weekly rate of the cost of detaining prisoners for the purpose of enabling deductions to be made under section 68:
        1. placing notifications in the Gazette in accordance with section 170:
          1. presenting a copy of the terms of any prison management contract, and of the terms of any variation to a prison management contract, to the House of Representatives in accordance with section 199I:
            1. any other powers and functions conferred under this Act or regulations made under this Act.

              1. The Minister may give general directions to the chief executive in relation to the exercise of powers and functions conferred on the chief executive under this Act or any regulations made under this Act.

              2. Subsection (2) does not authorise the Minister to give directions about the exercise of powers and functions in relation to a particular person.

              3. As soon as practicable after giving a direction under subsection (2), the Minister must publish in the Gazette and present to the House of Representatives a copy of the direction.

              Notes
              • Section 7(1)(e): replaced, on , by section 8(1) of the Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 59).