Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010

Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010
New Zealand Parliament
Passed25 March 2010
Royal assent31 May 2010[1]
Commenced1 June 2010
Repealed16 August 2022
Introduced byJudith Collins[1]
Repealed by
Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Act 2022
Status: Repealed

The Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010 was an Act of Parliament in New Zealand that denied parole to repeat violent offenders, and imposed maximum terms of imprisonment on repeat offenders who commit three serious violent offences - unless it would be manifestly unjust.[2] The law was known informally in New Zealand public, media and government circles as the "three-strikes law".[3][4][5][6]

The bill passed its third reading on 25 May 2010. It was supported by the conservative National and libertarian ACT parties but was opposed by the Labour, Green, and Māori parties.[3] It became law when it received royal assent on 31 May 2010.[7]

It led to some anomalous sentencing outcomes[8] with questionable evidence that it helped to reduce violent offending. It was repealed on 9 August 2022, by the Sixth Labour Government.[9]

  1. ^ a b "Sentencing Parole and Reform Bill". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010: Purpose". New Zealand Legislation. Parliamentary Counsel Office. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Controversial 'three strikes' bill passes". The New Zealand Herald. New Zealand Press Association. 25 May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Three strikes statistics". Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Three Strikes". Sensible Sentencing Trust. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  6. ^ Rumbles, W. (2011). "'Three Strikes' sentencing: Another blow for Māori". Waikato Journal of Law. 19 (2): 108–116. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010". New Zealand Legislation. Parliamentary Counsel Office. Archived from the original on 11 September 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Three strikes law to be repealed, opposition parties furious". NZ Herald. 11 November 2021. Archived from the original on 13 November 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  9. ^ Huang, Christina (9 August 2022). "Parliament votes to scrap three strikes law". 1News. TVNZ. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.