This Amendment Paper amends the Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill to remove the aggravating factor for an adult offender convicted as party to an offence committed by a child or young person.

While the Green Party agrees that mokopuna need to be protected from exploitation, this bill is likely to simply result in longer sentences for young people who offend in groups (where some mokopuna are over 18 years old and some under), rather than against adults “exploiting” mokopuna or orchestrating offending at arm’s length.

Mana Mokopuna makes clear that “Neuroscience does not support an arbitrary distinction being drawn between young people over 18 years and under 18 years who offend together as a means to justify harsher sentences for the older offenders of the group: