Kris Gledhill “Case Note: Marino v The Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections [2016] NZSC 127” [2017 ] NZCLR 45

Abstract

Core components of the rule of law include the accessibility of the law and its production of foreseeable results. Legislation sometimes seeks to pursue complex or conflicting policies, and its meaning may require discussion or even a ruling from a judge. But this should not be so when the aim is a simple one such as setting the length of time for which the Department of Corrections is entitled to detain a sentenced prisoner and indeed duty-bound to detain a prisoner to give effect to a court sentence. Whilst criminal sentencing may be factually complex in various situations, when a case has to go to the Supreme Court to confirm the proper interpretation of the length of a sentence, the legislative drafting may be marked down from a rule of law perspective. Fortunately, the solution adopted by the Supreme Court in Marino v The Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections leaves the matter easier to administer.¹ However, it has overturned an established approach and revealed that many prisoners have been detained for too long.