This report has been prepared to inform Parliament, New Zealand Parole Board stakeholders and the general public about the operations of The Board. This report complies with section 119 of the Parole Act 2002 where the Board is required to give an account on the performance of its functions from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004.
Objectives
The objectives of the New Zealand Parole Board are to:
The New Zealand Parole Board (the Board) is an independent statutory body established under section 108 of the Parole Act 2002. It replaced the 17 former District Prison Boards and National Parole Board.
The Board has 30 members headed by a chairperson, with 17 Judges as panel convenors and 12 non-judicial members. The Board is currently chaired by former High Court Judge, Mr Anthony Ellis QC. Cases are considered by panels with a minimum of three members and hearings are conducted at each prison at least once a month.
In accordance with the Parole Act 2002, the Board considers cases where offenders are eligible for release on parole, home detention, compassionate release, and release at their statutory release date. It does not consider the release of offenders on short-term prison sentences of less than two years unless they have the court’s leave to apply for front-end home detention. The date offenders are eligible to be considered by the Board for parole depends on their sentence and this is determined by the Department of Corrections in accordance with section 88 of the Parole Act 2002.