New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Risk of reoffending assessment

Legal area

Court

20 Aug 2019

R v MANEY [2019] NZHC 2048

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2048
Court

High Court

Starting point adopted at three years six months; an uplift of six months for the offender's serious and repeated violent record produced a notional four years; a two month reduction for plea resulted in a finite sentence of three years ten months. Preventive detention was not imposed because the court was satisfied, on evidence of recent behavioural change and credible community rehabilitation prospects (Puwhakamua programme and sponsor testimony), that a finite sentence coupled with release into that programme provided adequate protection and realistic rehabilitation prospects.
13 Apr 2018

F (SC 40/2017) v R [2018] NZSC 29

Citation

[2018] NZSC 29
Court

Supreme Court

Extension of time to appeal was granted but leave to appeal was refused because the new psychological report did not show that the absence of a formal clinical assessment at sentencing produced a miscarriage of justice or that risk of reoffending was central to the MPI; the Court of Appeal had considered the MPI and identified no reason to depart from the sentencing judge's reliance on denunciation and deterrence.
3 Feb 2017

New Zealand Police v PAKI [2017] NZHC 79

Citation

[2017] NZHC 79
Court

High Court

Preventive detention was declined because, despite a significant historical pattern of serious sexual offending and multiple breaches of supervision orders, the index offence was at the lower end of the scale, the pattern of recent sexual offending was weak, assessors rated risk as moderate to moderate-high, and the combination of age, ill health, existing extended supervision order and prospect of a substantial determinate sentence meant adequate community protection could be achieved by a finite sentence; the appropriate determinate sentence was fixed at 30 months imprisonment after uplift…
13 Nov 2015

ROSEWARNE v R [2015] NZCA 537

Citation

[2015] NZCA 537
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court upheld preventive detention with a 10-year MPI because the s87(4) factors were met: an established long-term pattern of severe sexual and violent offending, extreme harm to victims, high likelihood of future offending especially if intimate relationships are formed, demonstrable lack of insight and poor engagement with treatment, and the conclusion that a finite determinate sentence with an MPI would not provide adequate protection for the community.

New Zealand Case Law

R v MANEY [2019] NZHC 2048

F (SC 40/2017) v R [2018] NZSC 29

New Zealand Police v PAKI [2017] NZHC 79

ROSEWARNE v R [2015] NZCA 537