Parole (Mandatory Completion of Rehabilitative Programmes) Amendment Bill
This bill changes the rules around parole — when prisoners can apply to be let out of prison early. Under this bill, before a prisoner can go before the Parole Board (the group that decides if someone can be released early), they must have made a genuine effort to take part in rehabilitation programmes — things like courses to address the reasons behind their offending. If they haven't, their parole hearing gets delayed by up to 12 months. The bill does not apply to people serving open-ended sentences.
What this affects
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Prisoners would have to show they genuinely tried to complete rehabilitation programmes before they can be considered for early release from prison.
The Board may not consider for parole an offender who has at least 1 rehabilitative programme identified in their case management plan that... they have not made reasonable efforts to undertake or complete by the date on which they are due to be considered for parole.
The specified date must not be more than 12 months after the date on which the offender was due to be considered for parole.
This section does not apply to an offender who is subject to an indeterminate sentence.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Justice Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 3 March 2024.
Bill 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.