NCJ Number
100788
Date Published
1985
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This study examined the use of restitution and compliance with court orders among 709 New Zealand offenders who had been charged with property offenses and had received final dispositions during a 2-week period in January of 1983.
Abstract
Police requested restitution in 326 cases involving victim losses. Courts ordered restitution for 252 (77 percent) of these cases. Of the 252 offenders ordered to pay restitution, 201 had the payment supervised by the court. The majority of offenders (62 percent) had paid all restitution owing within 1 year of the order. Courts were more effective in collecting payments than were probation and social welfare agencies. Restitution amounts were greatest for those orders supervised by probation agencies, least for those under court supervision. The total amount of restitution collected was $40,199, 48 percent of the total imposed. Results highlight inadequacies of the current victim reparation provisions: restitution was ordered in only 53 percent of cases involving victim losses, and the amount recovered hardly relieves the anxiety and inconvenience that victims endured as a result of the offenders' actions. 5 references.