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Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

Warning

This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

PENAL SYSTEM

Contents


Crimes Compensation

In 1963 there was enacted a pioneer measure for compensating victims of crimes of violence. The Act sets up a tribunal to hear claims either by persons who have suffered bodily injury as a result of criminal acts or by the dependents of persons killed thereby, and to make awards. The principal heads of compensation are actual expenses and loss of wages, the amounts payable under the latter head being equated with the maxima payable under the Workers Compensation Act. The tribunal may also award up to £1,000 for other pecuniary loss and up to £500 for pain and suffering. The amount awarded is paid by the State but recovery may be sought from the offender at the discretion of the Secretary for Justice.

by Bruce James Cameron, B.A., LL.M., Legal Adviser, Department of Justice, Wellington.

  • Crime, Law and the Community, Department of Justice (1964).