The Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Act 2024 introduces substantial changes to the Sentencing Act, alongside minor revisions to the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003, Evidence Act 2006 and Parole Act 2002.

Key features:

The reinstated Three Strikes law is designed to deter repeat offenders by imposing progressively harsher mandatory prison sentences. Under the regime, individuals convicted of serious violent or sexual offences committed on or after 17 June 2025 will face escalating consequences:

• First Strike: Offenders receive a formal warning about the repercussions of future offences.
• Second Strike: Offenders become ineligible for parole.
• Third Strike: Offenders must serve the maximum sentence without the possibility of parole.

Offenders will be subject to these escalating penalties if they commit one of 42 specified serious violent or sexual offences – including newly added offences such as strangulation and suffocation – and receive a sentence above the prescribed threshold at each stage.

The regime:

• focuses on serious offending by applying the Three Strikes law only to sentences above 24 months;
• does not apply to offenders under the age of 18;
• imposes lengthy non-parole periods for people who are convicted of murder after previously receiving a strike for any other qualifying offence – 17 years (second strike) and 20 years (third strike);
• allows a limited reduction in sentence for guilty pleas, aiming to reduce court delays and spare victims from retraumatisation;
• provides some judicial discretion to avoid manifestly unjust outcomes and address exceptional cases;
• sets out principles and guidance to assist judges in applying the new rules.

As a part of the reinstatement of the law, some warnings that were issued under the previous Three Strikes law between 1 June 2010 and 16 August 2022 may be reactivated.

This significant legislative update marks a decisive return to New Zealand’s earlier approach to sentencing repeat offenders, with major implications for the justice system and those it affects.

Westlaw:

Sentencing Act 2002, s 82A: see [SA82A.01]-[SA82A.02]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86J (“qualifying offence”): see [SA86J.01.01]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86J (“qualifying sentence”): see [SA86J.02.01]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86J (“record of first warning”): see [SA86J.03.01]-[SA86J.03.02]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86J (“record of subsequent warning”): see [SA86J.04.01]-[SA86J.04.02]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86J (“stage-1 offence”): see [SA86J.05.01]-[SA86J.05.03]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86J (“stage-2 offence”): see [SA86J.06.01]-[SA86J.06.02]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86J (“stage-3 offence”): see [SA86J.07.01]-[SA86J.07.02]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86K: see [SA86K.01]-[SA86K.06]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86KA: see [SA86KA.01]-[SA86KA.02]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86L: see [SA86L.01]-[SA86L.05]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86M: see [SA86M.01]-[SA86M.03]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86N: see [SA86N.01]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86O: see [SA86O.01]-[SA86O.06]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86P: see [SA86P.01]-[SA86P.04]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86Q: see [SA86Q.01]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86R: see [SA86R.01]-[SA86R.05]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86S: see [SA86S.01]-[SA86S.04]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86T: see [SA86T.01]-[SA86T.04]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86U: see [SA86U.01]-[SA86U.02]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86V: see [SA86V.01]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86W: see [SA86W.01]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 86X: see [SA86X.01]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 89: see [SA89.01]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 103: see [SA103.04]

Sentencing Act 2002, s 104: see [SA104.01], [SA104.05]

Criminal Procedure Act 2011, s 66: see [CPA66.03]

Criminal Procedure Act 2011, s 73: see [CPA73.01]

Criminal Procedure Act 2011, s 114: see [CPA114.02]

Criminal Procedure Act 2011, s 180: see [CPA180.01]

Criminal Procedure Act 2011, s 244: see [CPA244.03]

Criminal Procedure Act 2011, s 246: see [CPA246.02]

Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003, s 34: see [CM34.10]

Parole Act 2002, s 20: see [PA20.01]

Please see Adams on Criminal Law – What’s New for a complete list of the amended commentary.