Tim Conder "Sentence Indications - Some Practical Challenges" [2017] NZCLR 100

Abstract

Sentence indications have formed part of the practice of criminal law in New Zealand for a number of years.¹ However, appellate courts have at times drawn the practice into question and have called such indications “troublesome” and “problematical”.² They have also been the frequent target of Solicitor-General’s appeals, which seek to respond to lenient sentences which have been seized upon by those defendants fortunate enough to receive them.³ Sentence indications have also been identified as carrying similar risks as plea bargaining, with the potential to encourage even innocent defendants to plead guilty.⁴