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Corrections Act 2004

Corrections system - Establishment and operation of prisons

32: Establishment of prisons

You could also call this:

"The Minister can decide what places are prisons in New Zealand."

The Minister can decide that a piece of land or a building is a prison. You can have two kinds of prisons: a corrections prison or a Police jail. The Minister can announce this decision in the Gazette. The Minister can also decide to add or remove land or buildings from a prison. If a court cell block is declared a part of a corrections prison, some rules from the Resource Management Act 1991 do not apply. The Minister's decisions take effect from a specified date. In some cases, the Minister can declare a temporary corrections prison, which starts immediately and lasts until the Minister says it is no longer needed. When the Minister makes a declaration about a temporary corrections prison, they must publish a notice in the Gazette as soon as possible. The Minister must also make a declaration when they receive a notice about land and buildings no longer being needed as a temporary corrections prison, and publish this in the Gazette.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM295436.

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"The prison boss can make rules to keep you safe and run the prison smoothly."

Part 2Corrections system
Establishment and operation of prisons

32Establishment of prisons

  1. The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, declare any land or building or any part of any land or building to be either or both of the following kinds of prison:

  2. a corrections prison:
    1. a Police jail.

      1. The Minister may, in the same way, declare any land or building or any part of any land or building to be added to, or excluded from, any prison.

      2. Nothing in section 9 of the Resource Management Act 1991 applies to the detention of prisoners in a court cell block that is declared by notice in the Gazette to be a part of a corrections prison.

      3. Every notice under this section takes effect from the date specified in the notice.

      4. Despite subsections (1) to (3), the Minister may, by notice in writing, declare any land or building, or part of any land or building that is the subject of a direction under section 191 (which relates to requisitioned property) to be a temporary corrections prison.

      5. A declaration under subsection (4)—

      6. comes into effect on the date of the declaration:
        1. continues in force until the Minister, by notice in writing, declares that the land and buildings that were the subject of the declaration under subsection (4) are no longer required for use as a temporary corrections prison.

          1. The Minister must—

          2. make a declaration under subsection (5)(b) in respect of any land and buildings as soon as practicable after receiving a notice from the chief executive under section 194(2)(a) relating to the land and buildings in question:
            1. publish in the Gazette a notice of any declaration under subsection (4) or subsection (5)(b) as soon as practicable after the declaration is made.

              Compare
              • 1954 No 51 s 4
              Notes
              • Section 32(2A): inserted, on , by section 4 of the Corrections (Use of Court Cells) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 60).
              • Section 32(2A): amended, on , by section 6 of the Resource Management (Natural and Built Environment and Spatial Planning Repeal and Interim Fast-track Consenting) Act 2023 (2023 No 68).