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Corrections Act 2004

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

8: Powers and functions of chief executive

You could also call this:

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

The chief executive is in charge of making sure the corrections system works properly, following the purposes set out in section 5 and the principles set out in section 6. You can think of the corrections system like a big team that helps keep people safe and makes sure prisoners are treated fairly. The chief executive has to make sure this team is doing its job.

The chief executive is also responsible for keeping prisoners safe and making sure they are treated well, except for those in Police jails. They have to look after people who are serving their sentences in the community, like those on home detention, and make sure they are following the rules. The chief executive gets some of their powers from laws like the Parole Act 2002 and the Sentencing Act 2002.

The chief executive can visit prisons, community work centres, and probation offices to check that everything is running smoothly. They can talk to anyone they want to, including prisoners and staff, to make sure everyone is being treated fairly. If someone complains about being treated unfairly, the chief executive has to investigate. They also have to look into any allegations of abuse or wrongdoing in prisons or other corrections facilities. The chief executive can give instructions and guidelines to staff, and they have to make sure that communities affected by corrections policies have a say in what happens. They must work with the Commissioner of Police when making decisions about Police jails or prisoners in those jails. The chief executive also has to follow any directions given by the Minister, as stated in section 7(2).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM295404.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawGovernment and voting > Government departments
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7: Powers and functions of Minister, or

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

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9: Powers and functions of Commissioner of Police, or

"The Commissioner of Police's jobs and powers in keeping prisoners safe and well in Police jails."

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

8Powers and functions of chief executive

  1. The chief executive has the following powers and functions:

  2. ensuring that the corrections system operates in accordance with the purposes set out in section 5 and the principles set out in section 6:
    1. ensuring the safe custody and welfare of prisoners (other than prisoners detained in Police jails or in institutions that are not corrections prisons):
      1. ensuring the welfare of offenders subject to community-based sentences or sentences of home detention or conditions imposed under the Parole Act 2002 or Sentencing Act 2002, during periods while, in the presence of any employee of the department, those offenders carry out their sentences or undergo any supervision forming part of the conditions to which they are subject:
        1. exercising the powers conferred by section 62 (which relates to the temporary release or removal of prisoners):
          1. visiting and inspecting any prison, community work centre, or probation office and, at his or her discretion, interviewing any person under control or supervision:
            1. inquiring into the treatment and conduct of persons under control or supervision:
              1. inquiring into all abuses or alleged abuses within each prison, community work centre, or probation office or in connection with it:
                1. inquiring into any complaint made to him or her by a person under control or supervision:
                  1. exercising all or any of the powers and functions of a prison manager:
                    1. issuing instructions or guidelines under section 196:
                      1. ensuring that processes are established and maintained to inform visitors of prisoners and recipients of prisoner communications of measures that they can take if they do not want to be contacted by a prisoner:
                        1. ensuring that processes are established and maintained to—
                          1. identify the communities significantly affected by policies and practices in the corrections system; and
                            1. provide opportunities for those identified communities to give their views on those policies and practices; and
                              1. ensure that those views are taken into account:
                              2. any other powers and functions conferred by or under this Act or regulations made under this Act.

                                1. The chief executive must consult with the Commissioner of Police, or any person nominated for the purpose by the Commissioner, about the manner in which powers and functions conferred under this Act or any regulations made under this Act on the chief executive are to be exercised in relation to—

                                2. any Police jail; or
                                  1. any prisoner detained in a Police jail.

                                    1. The chief executive must comply with any general direction given by the Minister under section 7(2).

                                    Compare
                                    • 1954 No 51 s 3
                                    Notes
                                    • Section 8(1)(c): replaced, on , by section 58 of the Sentencing Amendment Act 2007 (2007 No 27).
                                    • Section 8(1)(c): amended, on , by section 29 of the Statutes Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 104).
                                    • Section 8(1)(ja): inserted, on , by section 4 of the Corrections (Victim Protection) Amendment Act 2024 (2024 No 57).