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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

General provisions - Public access and restrictions on reporting - Power to clear court

199AA: Court may be cleared when victim impact statement read or otherwise presented to court in cases of sexual nature

You could also call this:

"The court can ask people to leave when a victim talks about a sexual offence case."

Illustration for Criminal Procedure Act 2011

When you are in court for a case about a sexual offence, the court can decide to make everyone leave the courtroom. This happens when a victim impact statement is being read out or presented to the court. The prosecutor has to ask the court to do this.

The court will only do this if it thinks the victim will get too upset if people are there. Some people can still stay in the courtroom, like the judge, the prosecutor, and the defendant. The victim can also ask for someone they trust to stay with them.

The court has to think about what the victim wants and needs when it makes this decision. It also has to consider if there is a better way to read out the victim impact statement. You can find out more about victim impact statements in the Victims’ Rights Act 2002.

Even if the courtroom is closed, the judge still has to tell everyone what the sentence is. But sometimes, the judge might not say everything in public, if it's a very sensitive case. A case of a sexual nature is defined in section 199(3).

A victim impact statement is a statement that explains how a crime affected the victim, as defined in section 17AA of the Victims’ Rights Act 2002. You can read more about this in section 21 of the Victims’ Rights Act 2002 and section 22 of the Victims’ Rights Act 2002.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS628915.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpCrime and justice > Victim supportCrime and justice > Criminal law
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"People giving evidence in sexual offence cases can have the courtroom cleared for privacy"

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Part 5General provisions
Public access and restrictions on reporting: Power to clear court

199AACourt may be cleared when victim impact statement read or otherwise presented to court in cases of sexual nature

  1. In any case of a sexual nature, a court may, on an application made for the purpose by the prosecutor, make an order that no person may be present in the courtroom while the victim’s victim impact statement is read or otherwise presented to the court, except for the following:

  2. the Judge:
    1. the prosecutor:
      1. the defendant and any person who is for the time being acting as custodian of the defendant:
        1. any lawyer engaged in the proceedings:
          1. any officer of the court:
            1. the Police employee in charge of the case:
              1. any member of the media (as defined in section 198(2)):
                1. any person whose presence is requested by the victim:
                  1. any person expressly permitted by the Judge to be present.

                    1. The order may be made only if the court is satisfied that the order is necessary to avoid causing the victim undue distress.

                    2. In deciding an application made under this section, the court must take into account, in addition to any other factors the court considers relevant, the following considerations:

                    3. the interests of the victim, and any preferences the victim has on how the victim’s victim impact statement is read or otherwise presented to the court:
                      1. whether those interests and preferences could be served and met by the statement being read or otherwise presented to the court in an alternative way:
                        1. whether the statement is to be read to the court by the victim, or by a person nominated by the victim, under section 22(1)(a) or (c) of the Victims’ Rights Act 2002.

                          1. Even if an order is made under subsection (1), the passing of sentence must take place in public; but, if the court is satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist, it may decline to state in public all or any of the facts, reasons, or other considerations that it has taken into account in determining the sentence.

                          2. In this section,—

                            case of a sexual nature has the meaning in section 199(3)

                              read or otherwise presented to the court, for a victim impact statement, means that all or any part of it is read or otherwise presented to the court under section 22 or 22A of the Victims’ Rights Act 2002

                                victim impact statement means a victim impact statement—

                                1. as defined in section 17AA of the Victims’ Rights Act 2002; and
                                  1. submitted under section 21 of that Act to the judicial officer sentencing the offender.

                                  Notes
                                  • Section 199AA: inserted, on , by section 46 of the Sexual Violence Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 60).