Sentencing Act 2017

Subject to this section, a statement to be provided to a court under section 14,

15 or 15A must comply with and be provided in accordance with rules of court.

The court must, on application by the prosecution, adjourn sentencing proceedings for the purposes of allowing a person referred to in section 14(1) to prepare a victim impact statement if—

the court is of the opinion that the person has not been provided a reasonable opportunity to prepare a victim impact statement; or

the person has requested more time to prepare a victim impact statement.

Subsection (1a) does not apply if the court is satisfied that special reasons exist that justify refusing the adjournment.

A court must not refuse to receive a victim impact statement provided by a person under section 14(1) on the grounds that the statement includes material that is irrelevant or otherwise should not be included in the statement (but nothing in this section requires the court to have regard to any such material in determining sentence).

Nothing prevents a statement to be provided to a court under section 14 or

15 from containing recommendations relating to the sentence to be determined by the court.

A copy of a statement to be provided to a court under section 14,

15 or

15A must be made available for inspection by the defendant or the defendant's counsel in accordance with rules of court and the defendant is entitled to make submissions to the court in relation to the statement.