Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has announced the approach the government plans to take for requiring judges to hand down tougher sentences.
The moves line up with what the coalition parties campaigned on during the election.
It includes:
- Capping sentence discounts judges can apply to 40 percent of the maximum unless it would result in manifestly unjust sentencing outcomes
- Preventing repeat discounts for youth and remorse
- Introducing a new aggravating factor to address offences against sole charge workers and those whose home and business are interconnected
- Encouraging the use of cumulative sentencing for offences committed while on bail, in custody, or on parole
- A maximum sentence discount of 25 percent for early guilty pleas, reducing to 5 percent if a guilty plea is entered during the trial
- Adding a requirement for judges to take information about the victims' interests into account
Goldsmith said judges would still have discretion to consider individual circumstances.
"People's lives are kept on hold for years under the current system."
He said the government estimated there would be more between 1480 and 1730 more people in prison each year over the next 10 years as a result of the changes.
This was estimated to cost an extra $165m and $192m a year, "but it very much depends upon the prevalence of crime".
"Of course our long term desire is to see fewer people in prison because there is less serious crime."
He said the approach had generally been to set maximum sentences, but the government could also set minimum or mandatory sentences instead.
"We haven't gone to those two things but what we have sent is a clear signal that we want tighter boundaries around the reductions."
On the repeat use of youth and remorse reductions, he said "we don't believe you can be remorseful 10 times".
The sliding scale for guilty pleas was designed to speed up court processes, he said, with later guilty pleas meaning delays to justice.
"We recognise that the public, and victims of crime especially, don't want to wait very long for these sorts of reforms. I've directed officials to start work on drafting the legislation, Cabinet has agreed to the policy decision, the drafting is under way and I intend to introduce in the next few months."
During the election, National promised to limit the amount judges could reduce sentences to 40 percent of the maximum, regardless of mitigating factors.
ACT campaigned on making changes to what judges must consider in sentencing, so that risk to victims and the community is taken into consideration and cultural background is not. They also proposed tougher sentences for crimes against vulnerable workers.
The coalition is also proceeding with its plan to reinstate a tweaked version of the Three Strikes legislation, and crack down on serious young offenders.
Goldsmith said the government also needed to be looking at other ways to reduce crime, including having better services for treating addiction or tackling truancy, and the government was also looking at other ways of reducing court delays.
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