Status: Completed
Project overview
This project reviewed the principles and scope of infringements as a contribution to a major project by the Ministry of Justice, and proposed a framework for reform.
Status: Completed
Terms of reference
Review to consider the principles that should govern the creation of infringement offences in legislation, the setting of penalties, and the administration of infringement offence regimes. The Law Commission to undertake work on the following specific areas of the Review:
1. Identifying the nature and purposes of infringement offences including:
• the types of conduct they should sanction and any limitations;
• whether they should be treated as civil or criminal breaches, or whether they should have a separate jurisdiction;
• the basis on which they should be distinguished from general offences;
2. The desirability of subsuming minor offences into the infringement offence procedure;
3. The principles and process for determining penalty levels including consideration of the relativities between court-imposed fines and infringements and the appropriateness and efficacy of fixed monetary penalties and other sanctions.
Status: Completed
Study Paper
The Infringements System: A Framework for Reform (NZLC SP16)
The Commission's Study Paper, The Infringements System: A Framework for Reform (SP16) contains the Commission's recommendations regarding the breadth and scope of infringement offences and their penalty structures. The paper is the Commission's contribution to a joint review with the Ministry of Justice.