8th review of Crimes (Substitution s59) Amendment Act 2007

Police has published its eighth review of activity following enactment of the Crimes (Substituted s59) Amendment Act 2007.

This 8th review covers the period 23 June 2010 to 21 December 2010. The review considered 444 child assault events attended by police during this period.

Of these events, 18 involved 'smacking' and 45 involved 'minor acts of physical discipline'. (See note 2 below).

Of the 18 'smacking' events, one resulted in prosecution, nine resulted in a warning and eight resulted in other / no further action being taken.

Of the 45 'minor acts of physical discipline' events, six resulted in prosecution, 28 resulted in warnings and 11 resulted in other / no further action being taken.

The "smacking" event prosecution involved a charge of Assault Child (Manually) and the defendant received six months supervision.

There have now been four prosecutions for a 'smacking' event since enactment of the Amendment in June 2007.

"Although the total number of section 59 events is the highest recorded, it is unclear whether this is because the number of actual physical assaults is increasing or becaue more incidents are being reported to Police," says Deputy Commissioner (Operations) Rob Pope.

"Improvements in reporting have undoubtedly had an impact, such as the "single point of contact" process where most reports of concern are now reported directly to Police through the Crime Reporting Line (CRL)."

In December 2009, the Prime Minister invited police to continue reporting on the impact of the Amendment for a further three years following the review into policies and procedures used by the New Zealand Police and Child, Youth and Family.

"The findings of this review are consistent with our previous monitoring" says Mr Rob Pope.

"It shows police continue to apply their discretion in these cases".

"There have been just four prosecutions for smacking events since the Amendment was enacted in June 2007. This suggests the practice guidelines on this matter issued by the Commissioner continue to work well".

Please Note: Further details of the 8th review can be found on the NZ Police website - http://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/s59_8th_review_report.pdf.

The number of child assault events identified in each review period does not reflect the total number of child assault events attended by police during this time. The events are those most likely to identify:
- Actual physical action used in the child assault; and
- The context and the surrounding circumstances, as outlined in the practice guidelines.

Following the December 2009 review Police agreed to continue monitoring the impact of the Amendment on a six monthly basis until June 2012. Further details of the review can be found at:
www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Sec59_review.pdf

The practice guide on this issue released in June 2007 can be found on the police website: www.police.govt.nz/news/release/3149.html