9 Feb 2021
D (SC 31/2019) v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2021] NZSC 2
- Citation
- [2021] 1 NZLR 213
- Court
- Supreme Court
By majority the Supreme Court held s 9(1) of the Registration Act did not lawfully apply to offenders who committed qualifying offences before the Act came into force but were convicted and sentenced after that date because the statute was not sufficiently clear to displace the presumption against retrospective penalties under s 6 of the Sentencing Act and s 25(g) of the Bill of Rights; applying that conclusion the registration order was quashed (the Court also set out the proper two‑stage approach to s 9 assessments).