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Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) Act 2014

Detention and supervision of persons posing very high risk of imminent serious sexual or violent offending - Interpretation, objective, and principles

5: Principles

You could also call this:

"Guiding rules for keeping people safe from harm"

Illustration for Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) Act 2014

When you are dealing with people who might commit serious sexual or violent offences, you must remember some important principles. You must not punish people just because they did something wrong in the past, but instead think about whether they might do something wrong again soon. A public protection order should only be made if the person poses a big enough risk to others to justify it.

You should also consider whether the person can get help under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 or the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003 instead of getting a public protection order. If someone is being kept in a special residence because of a public protection order, you should try to give them as much freedom and a good life as possible while keeping everyone safe.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM4751095.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Victim supportHealth and wellbeing > Mental health
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"This law aims to keep you and the community safe from harm."

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Part 1Detention and supervision of persons posing very high risk of imminent serious sexual or violent offending
Interpretation, objective, and principles

5Principles

  1. Every person or court exercising a power under this Act must have regard to the following principles:

  2. orders under this Act are not imposed to punish persons and the previous commission of an offence is only 1 of several factors that are relevant to assessing whether there is a very high risk of imminent serious sexual or violent offending by a person:
    1. a public protection order should only be imposed if the magnitude of the risk posed by the respondent justifies the imposition of the order:
      1. a public protection order should not be imposed on a person who is eligible to be detained under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 or the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003:
        1. persons who are detained in a residence under a public protection order should have as much autonomy and quality of life as possible, while ensuring the orderly functioning and safety within the residence.