Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill
This bill changes how judges work out prison sentences in New Zealand. It puts a cap of 40% on how much a sentence can be reduced because of personal reasons about the offender. It makes youth and remorse one-time-only reasons for reducing sentences — once used, they generally can't be used again for later crimes. It also sets a sliding scale for sentence reductions when someone pleads guilty earlier in the process. New rules make it more likely that crimes committed while on bail, in custody, or on parole will get extra, separate sentences on top of existing ones.
What this affects
Tap a topic to see how this bill touches it — with the parts of the text it’s based on.
The bill limits how much judges can reduce prison sentences and restricts when personal circumstances like youth or remorse can lower a sentence.
If a sentence of imprisonment for offending of any kind is reduced under 1 or more personal mitigating factors, total reductions under all those personal mitigating factors must not exceed 40% of the sentence.
In imposing a sentence of any type on the offender for the further offending, the court must not reduce that sentence under the youth mitigating factor.
In imposing a sentence of any type on the offender for the further offending, the court must not reduce that sentence under the remorse mitigating factor.
It is generally appropriate for the further offences for which an offender is being sentenced to be cumulative on the sentences for the offences for which the offender is being, or has been, sentenced that are not further offences.
A reduction to the sentence under the guilty plea mitigating factor must not exceed the applicable maximum percentage set out in the following table: at the first reasonable opportunity 25% ... less than 20 working days before the scheduled start date for the trial, or during the trial 5%
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is at the select committee stage — the time when the public can make submissions to the Justice Committee Committee. Draft yours with Arapono, then lodge it through the official Parliament process before the closing date.
Draft a submissionBill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.