New three strikes law would apply only to sentences of at least two years
WELLINGTON: The coalition plans to reintroduce the three strikes sentencing law later this year — but it will be slightly different.
It would apply only to sentences of at least two years, give judges more discretion in cases where harsh outcomes would be ‘‘manifestly unjust’’ and bring some benefit for offenders on their final strike to plead guilty.
The system would also add the new strangulation and suffocation offence to the list of 40 serious offences that qualified under the previous scheme, and demand an ‘‘appropriately lengthy’’ nonparole period for those convicted of murder at their second or third strike.
The ‘‘three strikes’’ law was a threestage system of increasing consequences for repeat serious violent offenders first introduced by National and Act New Zealand in 2010, three qualifying offences meaning judges would be required to hand down the maximum sentence for offences.
However, it was repealed by the previous Labour government in 2022, Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori arguing it prevented judges from taking individual circumstances into account, that mandatory minimum sentences disproportionately affected Māori and it did not address underlying causes of crime.
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee said the proposed settings of the Bill had already been approved by Cabinet, and she would introduce the Bill to the House later this year after taking that to Cabinet by the end of June.
The law would then take effect six months after it had passed through Parliament, to allow changes to IT systems and training.
She said the changes to only apply the law for sentences of 24 months or more, and increase judicial discretion, would limit the effect of the law to those who had committed the most serious offences.
‘‘The intention is to limit the new threestrikes regime to serious repeat offenders without capturing the lowlevel offending. We intend to provide narrow exceptions to allow judicial discretion not to impose the mandatory sentence or parole requirements when it would be manifestly unjust to do so.’’
She was confident the changes had addressed many of the issues with the Bill of Rights the previous law faced, and she was hopeful Attorneygeneral Judith Collins’ advice would reflect that once the Bill had been introduced to Parliament.
Ms McKee announced the move alongside Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. They said it could lead to about 45 to 90 extra prisoners every year over the next 10 years, costing up to an extra $11m.
‘‘It’s hard to estimate because we are changing and improving the regime, so that’s the best estimates that we can give,’’ Ms McKee said. — RNZ