Corrections Act 2004

6 Principles guiding corrections system

(1)

The principles that guide the operation of the corrections system are that—

(a)

the maintenance of public safety is the paramount consideration in decisions about the management of persons under control or supervision:

(b)

victims’ interests must be considered in decisions related to the management of persons under control or supervision:

(c)

in order to reduce the risk of reoffending, the cultural background, ethnic identity, and language of offenders must, where appropriate and to the extent practicable within the resources available, be taken into account—

(i)

in developing and providing rehabilitative programmes and other interventions intended to effectively assist the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the community; and

(ii)

in sentence planning and management of offenders:

(d)

offenders must, where appropriate and so far as is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances, be provided with access to any process designed to promote restorative justice between offenders and victims:

(e)

an offender’s family must, so far as is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances and within the resources available, be recognised and involved in—

(i)

decisions related to sentence planning and management, and the rehabilitation and reintegration of the offender into the community; and

(ii)

planning for participation by the offender in programmes, services, and activities in the course of his or her sentence:

(f)

the corrections system must ensure the fair treatment of persons under control or supervision by—

(i)

providing those persons with information about the rules, obligations, and entitlements that affect them; and

(ii)

ensuring that decisions about those persons are taken in a fair and reasonable way and that those persons have access to an effective complaints procedure:

(g)

sentences and orders must not be administered more restrictively than is reasonably necessary to ensure the maintenance of the law and the safety of the public, corrections staff, and persons under control or supervision:

(h)

offenders must, so far as is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances within the resources available, be given access to activities that may contribute to their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community:

(i)

contact between prisoners and their families must be encouraged and supported, so far as is reasonable and practicable and within the resources available, and to the extent that this contact is consistent with the maintenance of safety and security requirements.

(2)

Persons who exercise powers and duties under this Act or any regulations made under this Act must take into account those principles set out in subsection (1) that are applicable (if any), so far as is practicable in the circumstances.

(3)

Subsection (1) does not affect the application or operation of any other Act.