Minister wants wider range of sentences

Press, 28 March 1979, Page 12

Minister wants wider range of sentences

PA Hastings The Minister of Justice (Mr McLay> says he wants to give courts a broader range of sentences to choose from. This is one of the matters which will be discussed by the Law Reform Council which will meet on April 6 for the first time since 1976. “I intend that we should give the courts an even broader range of sentences from which to choose when dealing With an offender,” Mr McLay told a National Party rally in Hastings. He said that a sentence of community service would help to instil a sense of responsibility, particularly in young offenders. “Better rules relating to restitution and reparation should ensure that an offender is seen, so far as is practical, to repair the harm he has done to his victim,” Mr McLay said. In the United States recently a gang of youths was ordered to repair and pay for 10 times the number of windows they had broken on a rampage through schools. Mr McLay said a drunken driver who had kilted a person was ordered in addition to other penalties to work in a hospital casualty ward for one day a week for a year.

A senior film companv executive convicted of theft from his employer was order to produce an educational film on drug addiction.

“These specific exam* pies may not be practical in the New Zealand context but are indications as to how similar legal powers have been used cfverseas,” Mr McLay said. “All of this is the type of law reform that tne community can understand, appreciate, and, I hope, agree with.” Mr McLay said it was important to get awav from the idea that socia‘l Sroblems could necessarily e solved by legislation. “Often the best type of law reform can result from a decision not to pass legislation,” he said. “At the same time we must accept legislation for improving and modernising laws which are out of date. “We also have to ensure that old and irrelevant laws are removed from the statute books.” Mr McLay said he would discuss these problems and possible ways of dealing with them at the Law Reform Council meeting. The council co-ordinates law-reform work and advises the Government on proposals to modernise the law.