Conviction and Sentencing of Offenders in New Zealand: 1989 to 1998

• NCJ Number: 182357
• Author(s): Philip Spier
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 155 pages
• Corporate Author: New Zealand Ministry of Justice
• Sale Source: New Zealand Ministry of Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: New Zealand

Annotation

This ninth report in an annual series presents trends in prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing in New Zealand over the 10-year period of 1989-98, using data from the Law Enforcement System; trends over this decade for the number of 14- to 16-year-olds apprehended by the police are also presented, along with offending by youth which resulted in an appearance in court; special topics investigated this year are the use of reparation as a sentence over the period examined and trends in offending while on bail and in the use of bail.

Abstract

Data show a large decrease in the total number of prosecutions for non-traffic offenses in 1997 after an increasing trend over the earlier part of the 1990's. In 1998 the number of prosecutions increased significantly, although the increase was smaller than the decrease the previous year. The majority of the decrease in prosecutions in 1997 was due to "failing to register a dog" becoming an infringement offense. The introduction of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act in late 1989 and the nationwide expansion of the police diversion scheme in 1989 and 1990, had a significant impact on the outcomes of prosecutions in subsequent years. The total number of convictions for violent offenses increased considerably between 1990 and 1995; however, the figures in the last three years have all been a slightly lower than the 1995 figures. The number of convictions for property offenses remained reasonably stable between 1992 and 1996, but dropped in 1997 and 1998. Although there have been significant changes in sentencing patterns over the decade as a whole, since 1992 there have been only relatively small changes in sentencing patterns for all types of sentences. The total number of custodial sentences imposed in 1998 was greater than in any other year in the decade. Since 1990, there has been a gradually increasing trend in the number of cases that involve the prosecution of juveniles. Extensive tabular and graphic data and 9 references