NCJ Number
178535
Date Published
1998
Length
156 pages
Annotation
Trends in the prosecution, conviction, and sentencing of offenders in New Zealand are analyzed over the 10-year period from 1988 to 1997 using data extracted from the law enforcement system.
Abstract
The data show a large decrease in the total number of prosecutions for offenses other than traffic offenses in 1997 after an increasing trend over the earlier part of the 1990s. Much of this decrease was attributed to the downgrading of "failing to register a dog" to an infringement offense. The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act of 1989 and the nationwide expansion of the police diversion scheme in 1989 and 1990 had significant impacts on prosecution outcomes in subsequent years. The total number of convictions for violent offenses dropped in 1996 and 1997, after an increasing trend since 1990. The number of convictions for violent offenses in 1997 was still 65 percent higher than in 1988. Convictions for violent sex offenses tripled between 1988 and 1996, from 701 to 2,116 before dropping to 1,565 in 1997. Convictions in 1997 for both robbery and aggravated robbery were the highest recorded in the decade. The number of convictions for threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm showed a strong upward trend over the decade, and the number of convictions for dealing in drugs other than marijuana more than doubled. Male offenders accounted for 84 percent of the total number of offenders. The total number of custodial sentences imposed in 1997 was greater than in any other year in the decade. The average custodial sentence length imposed for all offenses increased from 9.5 months in 1988 to 11.8 months in 1997. During 1997, the average number of sentenced male inmates at any one time totaled 4,399, the highest number recorded during the decade. There was a large increase in the use of community-based sentences between 1988 and 1991 for offenses other than traffic offenses. From 1990 to 1997, there was a slowly increasing trend in the number of court cases involving young people. An appendix lists recent research publications of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice and the former Department of Justice. 10 references, 117 tables, and 7 figures