New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Pre-sentence custody credit

Legal area

Court

26 Jun 2023

BLACK v R [2023] NZHC 1575

Citation

[2023] NZHC 1575
Court

High Court

The Judge erred by imposing six months' home detention which, when combined with 359 days pre-sentence custody, resulted in the appellant being detained longer than he would lawfully have been if sentenced to a short-term imprisonment; credit for remand is an evaluative exercise and the resulting error required quashing the six-month home detention and replacing it with three months' home detention while retaining six months' post-detention conditions and other sentence elements.
6 Dec 2022

BRACKEN v R [2022] NZHC 3265

Citation

[2022] NZHC 3265
Court

High Court

The sentencing Judge meaningfully accounted for time on EM bail and remand by converting the sentence indication of imprisonment or home detention to a less restrictive five month community detention coupled with 12 months' intensive supervision; because community detention is materially less restrictive than home detention the sentence was within the available range and not manifestly excessive, so the appeal is dismissed.
12 May 2022

TRAINOR v POLICE [2022] NZHC 1022

Citation

[2022] NZHC 1022
Court

High Court

The District Court's substituted sentence of 11 months' home detention was quashed and, having fully credited the approximately seven months the appellant had spent in custody when commuting an 18 month imprisonment to home detention, the appropriate substituted sentence is two months' home detention; accompanying six months post-release conditions and a 15 month driving disqualification remain unchanged.
4 Oct 2021

WIKI v R [2021] NZHC 2631

Citation

[2021] NZHC 2631
Court

High Court

The Judge did not err: imposing concurrent sentences was a lawful exercise of sentencing discretion intended to preserve the earlier sentence expiry date given the appellant's recall and low likelihood of parole; s85(2) is principally engaged by cumulative sentences and the 21‑month term was not disproportionate to the overall gravity of the offending.
2 Jul 2021

R v PAUL [2021] NZHC 1627

Citation

[2021] NZHC 1627
Court

High Court

Given the defendant's very limited subordinate role the starting point was set at three years' imprisonment; a three month uplift for prior drug convictions and bail status produced 39 months; allowable discounts (20% plea and additional credit for rehabilitation/EM bail compliance totalling 15 months) reduced the effective sentence to 24 months imprisonment which, after accounting for five months pre-sentence custody (treated as ten months) and conversion rules, justified a six month home detention sentence to be served at Odyssey House; sentences to run concurrently.
15 Dec 2016

MARINO v CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS [2016] NZHC 3074

Citation

[2016] NZHC 3074
Court

High Court

The Court held the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Parole Act operates retrospectively under the declaratory theory, rejecting the Chief Executive's argument for prospective-only effect; reliance on earlier (incorrect) authority does not avoid strict liability for false imprisonment, and the applicants are entitled to summary judgment on liability for the periods they were detained beyond their lawful sentences.
16 Mar 2016

MARINO v CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS [2016] NZHC 459 [16 March 2016]

Citation

[2016] NZHC 459
Court

High Court

Section 91(1) does not permit an expansive attribution of all pre-sentence detention to multiple distinct charges; remand credit must be determined and applied separately to each concurrent sentence under s90(2), and therefore the Chief Executive's calculation was correct; the habeas corpus application is declined.

New Zealand Case Law

BLACK v R [2023] NZHC 1575

BRACKEN v R [2022] NZHC 3265

TRAINOR v POLICE [2022] NZHC 1022

WIKI v R [2021] NZHC 2631

R v PAUL [2021] NZHC 1627

MARINO v CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS [2016] NZHC 3074

MARINO v CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS [2016] NZHC 459 [16 March 2016]