Purpose and Principles Guiding the Corrections System

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The purpose and principles guiding the corrections system are set out in the Corrections Act 2004 and Corrections Regulations 2005.

The purpose and principles guiding the corrections system are set out in sections 5 and 6 of the Corrections Act 2004.

Under section 5 of the Act, the purpose of the corrections system is to improve public safety and contribute to the maintenance of a just society by:

  • ensuring that the community-based and custodial sentences and related orders that are imposed by the courts and the New Zealand Parole Board are administered in a safe, secure, humane and effective manner; and
  • providing for corrections facilities to be operated in accordance with rules set out in the corrections legislation and regulations made under this legislation that are based, amongst other matters, on the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners; and
  • assisting in the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community, where appropriate, and as so far as is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances and within the resources available, through the provision of programmes and other interventions; and
  • providing information to the courts and the New Zealand Parole Board to assist them in decision-making.

Section 6 of the Act then sets out the detailed principles that guide the operation of the corrections system.