Preventive detention will be retained as a sentencing option for judges under the Government's proposed "three strikes" legislation, Police Minister Judith Collins said today.
She was commenting after a criminologist said the legislation could let some third-time offenders out of prison earlier than if they were sentenced under current law.
Prime Minister John Key said yesterday National and ACT had reached agreement over the policy, which will lead to repeat offenders who commit serious violent or sexual crimes getting a maximum sentence with no parole for their third conviction. The worst killers will be locked up until they die.
But Victoria University criminology Professor John Pratt said the proposed law change would let a third-time offender out after a fixed period, whereas imposing preventive detention would mean they could be kept in prison for the rest of their life if they were still deemed a risk.
"If I had the choice ... and I was a third-time, serious violent offender, I think I would definitely choose the three-strikes law to be punished by rather than preventive detention."
The policy was an example of changes to penal law "being made on the strength of sensational cases or for purely strategic political reasons", Prof Pratt said.
"This one, obviously, as far as I'm concerned, it's nothing more than an empty political gesture."
Police Minister Judith Collins said criminals on their second or third strike and facing a murder charge would receive a mandatory life sentence without parole.
A life sentence was currently a minimum of 10 years, or 17 years if certain factors were present in the offending, but under the new policy, "life would mean life - i.e. until they die", Ms Collins said.
For other serious offences, a third strike would put offenders behind bars for the maximum sentence available.
Preventive detention could be applied if a longer sentence was required.
The three strikes legislation would spare victims and their families multiple parole hearings, and give them certainty around release dates, Ms Collins said.
Howard League for Penal Reform president Peter Williams QC said the legislation was "hysterical".
He told Radio New Zealand the Government was not prepared to look at the underlying causes of crime, and taking away the incentive of parole meant there was no deterrent for crime.
"Parole has two benefits: one, it encourages people to reform. Secondly, it encourages people to behave in prisons.
"With the abolition of parole, there'll be no incentive for people to rehabilitate."
As well, there would be a danger to prison wardens as prisoners would have nothing to lose.
ACT Party justice and corrections spokesman David Garrett said while prisons were fuller than the Government would like, the proposed legislation was "not about locking people up".
"It's about sending a message, giving an incentive to people who are embarking on or who are in a life of crime, and about making the place safer for decent New Zealanders."
If passed into law, someone committing a major violent or sexual offence would receive a standard sentence and warning for the first offence and a jail term with no parole and a further warning for a second offence.
On conviction for a third offence, the person would receive the maximum penalty in prison for that offence with no parole.
The list of qualifying offences comprised all the major violence and sexual offences that had a maximum penalty of seven years' prison or more.
