Government looks at sentencing guide for judges

The possibility of a council to direct judges on sentencing is to be considered by the Government, a parliamentary committee was told yesterday.

At the Justice and Electoral Committee, National MP Richard Worth asked Justice Minister Mark Burton about the idea of a sentencing council.

Mr Burton said it was a possibility and he had asked the Law Commission to look at it.

"They are currently looking at issues around sentencing, including the use of that particular mechanism and looking at some other jurisdictions, like the United Kingdom, in which those sorts of apparatus exist."

Mr Burton emphasised a sentencing council was at this point not a Government proposal, "but certainly work is being done to have a look at it as a part of a suite of work around the overall issues of sentencing and management of everything from the sentencing through to the prison population".

Mr Worth said he was disturbed that such a council might be set up here.

"This would be some quasi-government body which would basically set sentencing guidelines.

"You can see how significant this is - the task of sentencing would be taken away from the judges who would have to follow, potentially, the guidelines or rulings of what might be a politically charged body and the judges would completely revolt at that and I think others might too."

Law Commission deputy president Warren Young said its proposals, including establishing a sentencing council to develop guidelines for judges around sentencing, would go to Government in the next few weeks.

"Those would be guidelines that wouldn't be binding - judges would be able to depart from them where it was in the public interest to do so. They really would be setting up a body that would develop guidelines for offences across the board that would both produce greater consistency in sentencing practice and also greater predictability in the system."

Mr Young said there was wide variation in sentencing at the lower courts.

"I think at the upper end, because there is a lot of guidance for appellate courts, sentencing at the more serious end of the spectrum is actually pretty consistent. Sentencing at the lower end tends to be rather less consistent with differing approaches taken in different areas."

The sentencing council would be based on the British model but would be composed differently. Also, while in Britain guidelines were being added incrementally, New Zealand would hope to start off with a comprehensive set of guidelines.

The council would have judicial and non-judicial members.

"The judges would be appointed by the chief justice or chief judge. The non-judicial members would be appointed by the Governor-General in the usual way for those sorts of bodies on the recommendation of Cabinet."

Mr Young did not believe it would simply be a matter of making political appointments.

"The statute would or should set out the sort of skills that those people need to have."

- NZPA