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Parole (Extended Supervision Orders) Amendment Bill

Year: Number: 195

The departmental disclosure statement for a government Bill seeks to bring together in one place a range of information to support and enhance the Parliamentary and public scrutiny of that Bill.

It identifies:

the general policy intent of the Bill and other background policy material;
some of the key quality assurance products and processes used to develop and test the content of the Bill;
the presence of certain significant powers or features in the Bill that might be of particular Parliamentary or public interest and warrant an explanation.

This disclosure statement was prepared by the Department of Corrections.

The Department of Corrections certifies that, to the best of its knowledge and understanding, the information provided is complete and accurate at the date of finalisation below.

12 March 2014

Part One: General Policy Statement

This Bill amends the Parole Act 2002 so far as it relates to extended supervision orders. Extended supervision orders are used to manage a small number of child sex offenders who pose a high risk of causing serious harm after being released from prison at the end of their sentence. These orders can last for up to 10 years, beyond which the Department of Corrections is not able to manage these offenders even if they continue to pose a high risk of serious harm to the public.

The Bill enables orders to be renewed as often as they are needed and expands the scope of orders beyond high-risk child sex offenders to include high-risk sex offenders against adults (predicted to be a small number) and very high-risk violent offenders (predicted to be a very small number). The Bill provides for courts to order the imposition of a special condition allowing intensive monitoring of offenders for the first 12 months of their order. This establishes judicial control over the imposition of the most restrictive form of management of offenders on extended supervision orders. These changes will help to minimise the risk of serious harm to the public by offenders who, following completion of a finite sentence, are likely to commit serious offences.

The Bill more clearly establishes that only the highest-risk offenders will be able to be subject to an order and requires that new orders will be subject to mandatory reviews by the courts at least every 5 years. This is to ensure that offenders are subject to orders only for as long as the risk of serious harm to the public from the offenders warrants it. Given the risk of serious harm posed by these offenders, the amendments in the Bill strike an appropriate balance between the rights of the public to be free from sexual or violent harm and the rights of offenders.

The proposed changes to extended supervision orders will support the public protection orders proposed in the Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) Bill, which will provide a further option to manage the highest-risk offenders after completion of a finite sentence. Following the enactment of that Bill, amendments may need to be

Part Two: Background Material and Policy Information

Published reviews or evaluations

2.1. Are there any publicly available inquiry, review or evaluation reports that have informed, or are relevant to, the policy to be given effect by this Bill?

Relevant international treaties

2.2. Does this Bill seek to give effect to New Zealand action in relation to an international treaty?	NO

Regulatory impact analysis

2.3. Were any regulatory impact statements provided to inform the policy decisions that led to this Bill?	YES
Enhanced Extended Supervision Orders, Department of Corrections, November 2013. Will be available on-line at: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/informationreleases/ris http://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/parole_extended_supervision_orders_amendment_bill.html

2.3.1. If so, did the RIA Team in the Treasury provide an independent opinion on the quality of any of these regulatory impact statements?	NO
The RIS identified above did not meet the threshold for receiving an independent opinion on the quality of the RIS from the RIA Team based in the Treasury.

2.3.2. Are there aspects of the policy to be given effect by this Bill that were not addressed by, or that now vary materially from, the policy options analysed in these regulatory impact statements?	NO

Extent of impact analysis available

2.4. Has further impact analysis become available for any aspects of the policy to be given effect by this Bill?	NO

2.5. For the policy to be given effect by this Bill, is there analysis available on:
(a) the size of the potential costs and benefits?	YES
(b) the potential for any group of persons to suffer a substantial unavoidable loss of income or wealth?	NO
Analysis is available in the RIS identified above.

2.6. For the policy to be given effect by this Bill, are the potential costs or benefits likely to be impacted by:
(a) the level of effective compliance or non-compliance with applicable obligations or standards?	No
(b) the nature and level of regulator effort put into encouraging or securing compliance?	No

Part Three: Testing of Legislative Content

Consistency with New Zealand’s international obligations

3.1. What steps have been taken to determine whether the policy to be given effect by this Bill is consistent with New Zealand’s international obligations?

The policy and the Bill have been considered by officials from the Department of Corrections with experience of international obligations in the justice sector.

Extended supervision orders are an existing mechanism for managing individuals who pose a risk to public safety, and the amendments proposed do not substantially change the nature of these orders.

Consistency with the government’s Treaty of Waitangi obligations

3.2. What steps have been taken to determine whether the policy to be given effect by this Bill is consistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi?

Policy consideration of the changes made by the Bill assessed the likely impact on Māori. Officials from the Department of Corrections consulted with Te Puni Kōkiri on the policy and the Bill.

Consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990

3.3. Has advice been provided to the Attorney-General on whether any provisions of this Bill appear to limit any of the rights and freedoms affirmed in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990?	YES
Advice provided to the Attorney-General, or a section 7 report of the Attorney-General, is generally expected to be available on the Ministry of Justice's website upon introduction of the Bill. Such advice, or reports, will be accessible on the Ministry's website at http://www.justice.govt.nz/policy/constitutional-law-and-human-rights/human-rights/bill-of-rights/

Offences, penalties and court jurisdictions

3.4. Does this Bill create, amend, or remove:
(a) offences or penalties (including infringement offences or penalties and civil pecuniary penalty regimes)?	YES
(b) the jurisdiction of a court or tribunal (including rights to judicial review or rights of appeal)?	YES
Extended supervision orders are imposed by the court for the purpose of managing the risk posed by a small group of individuals in the community. Amendments include: The expansion of relevant qualifying offences (s 107B of the Parole Act 2002) to include sexual offences against adults and violent offences. The ability for extended supervision orders to be renewed beyond a ten year period (including amendments to s. 107A(b), 107C(1) and 107F(1)). Provision for regular reviews of renewed extended supervision orders by the courts (including new s 107RA). Having the court set an intensive monitoring special condition, instead of the Parole Board (s. 107IAB).

3.4.1. Was the Ministry of Justice consulted about these provisions?	YES
Consulted with Justice on both the policy and the Bill, via email. Issues discussed include the potential for the proposed changes to be considered inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act given previous decisions relating to extended supervision orders, and the relationship with public protection orders. These matters were considered during policy development.

Privacy issues

3.5. Does this Bill create, amend or remove any provisions relating to the collection, storage, access to, correction of, use or disclosure of personal information?	YES
Yes, proposed amendment to existing provisions in Schedule 5 of the Privacy Act to explicitly provide for Corrections to access details of protection orders and restraining orders where the person is also managed by Corrections on an extended supervision order.

3.5.1. Was the Privacy Commissioner consulted about these provisions?	YES
Yes, via email. Raised issue of ensuring new legislative provisions included the appropriate constraints and protections that exist for current provisions (which the proposed amendments do).

External consultation

3.6. Has there been any external consultation on the policy to be given effect by this Bill, or on a draft of this Bill?

Other testing of proposals

3.7. Have the policy details to be given effect by this Bill been otherwise tested or assessed in any way to ensure the Bill’s provisions are workable and complete?

Part Four: Significant Legislative Features

Compulsory acquisition of private property

4.1. Does this Bill contain any provisions that could result in the compulsory acquisition of private property?

Charges in the nature of a tax

4.2. Does this Bill create or amend a power to impose a fee, levy or charge in the nature of a tax?

Retrospective effect

4.3. Does this Bill affect rights, freedoms, or impose obligations, retrospectively?

YES

Amended legislative provisions for extended supervision orders would apply to individuals who have committed a relevant qualifying offence before the legislation comes into force, but are yet to receive an extended supervision order. Individuals who are currently on an extended supervision order when the legislation comes into force would be eligible to have orders renewed beyond ten years. These retrospective applications of the amendments are to help protect the public from individuals who pose a high risk of serious sexual or violent harm.

Strict liability or reversal of the usual burden of proof for offences

4.4. Does this Bill:
(a) create or amend a strict or absolute liability offence?	NO
(b) reverse or modify the usual burden of proof for an offence or a civil pecuniary penalty proceeding?	NO

Civil or criminal immunity

4.5. Does this Bill create or amend a civil or criminal immunity for any person?

Significant decision-making powers

4.6. Does this Bill create or amend a decision-making power to make a determination about a person’s rights, obligations, or interests protected or recognised by law, and that could have a significant impact on those rights, obligations, or interests?

YES

As noted in question 3.4, the Bill:

amends the decision-making powers of the court relating to the length and eligibility of extended supervision orders.
raises the decision-making power for imposing a condition of intensive monitoring from the Parole Board to the court.

Powers to make delegated legislation

4.7. Does this Bill create or amend a power to make delegated legislation that could amend an Act, define the meaning of a term in an Act, or grant an exemption from an Act or delegated legislation?	NO

4.8. Does this Bill create or amend any other powers to make delegated legislation?	NO

Any other unusual provisions or features

4.9. Does this Bill contain any provisions (other than those noted above) that are unusual or call for special comment?

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