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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

Trial - Provisions applying to jury trials - Charge alleging previous conviction

108: Procedure if charge alleges previous conviction

You could also call this:

"What happens in court if you've been in trouble before and are charged with a crime again"

Illustration for Criminal Procedure Act 2011

If you are charged with a crime and the charge says you have been convicted before, the judge will not tell the jury about the previous conviction when they start deciding your case. You will have pleaded not guilty to the current charge, and the previous conviction will not be mentioned at this stage. The jury will only consider the current charge against you.

If someone talks about your good character during the trial, the prosecutor can then tell the jury about your previous conviction. This is to balance out the information about your good character. The prosecutor can only do this if someone has already mentioned your good character.

You can find more information about this rule by looking at the Criminal Procedure Act and similar laws, such as the one from 1961.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3360181.

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Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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Part 4Trial
Provisions applying to jury trials: Charge alleging previous conviction

108Procedure if charge alleges previous conviction

  1. If a charge contains an allegation that the defendant has been previously convicted, and the defendant pleads not guilty to the rest of the charge, the allegation must not be mentioned to the jury when the defendant is given in charge to them.

  2. Despite subsection (1), if during the trial evidence of the defendant's good character is given by or on behalf of the defendant, the prosecutor, in answer to that evidence, may prove the previous conviction.

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