Sentencing for offences punishable by imprisonment
118 Sentencing for offences punishable by imprisonment
If the statutory penalty for an offence is or includes imprisonment and the court dealing with the offender decides to impose a custodial sentence, the court may —
impose a term of imprisonment under Part 13 of the Sentencing Act 1995 but may not impose suspended imprisonment under Part 11 of that Act or conditional suspended imprisonment under Part 12 of that Act; or
sentence the offender to a term of detention that is not longer than the term of imprisonment to which the offender would have been liable if the offender were not a young person.
Despite section 86 of the Sentencing Act 1995 the court sentencing a young person to a term of imprisonment or a term of detention may impose a term of 6 months or less.
If the court sentences an offender to imprisonment it may, subject to Part 14 of the Sentencing Act 1995, also sentence the offender to indefinite imprisonment.
If the court sentences an offender to imprisonment it may, if the offender is at least 16 and under 18 years old and having regard to the matters in section 178(4), direct that the offender serve the sentence in a prison under the Prisons Act 1981.
If the court sentences the offender to a term of imprisonment, the Sentencing Act 1995 and the Sentence Administration Act 2003, with any necessary changes, apply to and in respect of the sentence imposed.
[Section 118 inserted: No. 78 of 1995 s. 143; amended: No. 29 of 1998 s. 21; No. 50 of 2003 s. 29(3) and 104(2); No. 27 of 2004 s. 17; No. 5 of 2008 s. 132(3); No. 15 of 2023 s. 8.]
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