Abstract
Over the last two decades, there has been a trend in New Zealand’s criminal justice system toward longer, harsher sentences for serious crimes, and a greater emphasis on preventive justice. The introduction of post-sentence civil detention in 2014 is a high-water mark in this regard. Imposition of Preventive Detention, Extended Supervision Order’s, and post-sentence Public Protection Orders (PPOs) are based on statutory criteria and informed by expert evidence. PPO’s in particular, are premised on evidence that the circumstances of the offender fall within specified psychological and social criteria. This chapter explores the use of such criteria to justify the imposition of PPOs in New Zealand.