The data below is in a format known as tab-delimited values. You can open this file with any spreadsheet application and the data will be distributed into the appropriate rows and columns. Average custodial sentence length (days) Year Homicide and related offences Acts intended to cause injury Sexual assault and related offences Abduction and kidnapping Robbery 1980 1228 240 829 *s 906 1981 1200 208 745 750 821 1982 1054 219 816 911 725 1983 1384 179 875 982 685 1984 1213 208 924 1534 711 1985 1529 197 914 614 773 1986 1607 245 959 923 833 1987 1543 260 1143 1135 886 1988 1749 297 1062 1039 838 1989 1783 281 1184 979 921 1990 1525 315 1044 1023 912 1991 1717 295 1119 1049 949 1992 1904 280 1085 920 1128 1993 1780 268 1174 1175 1127 1994 1693 293 1371 1154 1166 1995 2115 317 1427 1173 1084 1996 1725 336 1430 1179 1001 1997 2134 331 1394 1030 1077 1998 1837 332 1514 1147 1082 1999 2221 329 1489 1136 1163 2000 2168 371 1428 1089 1099 2001 2367 347 1554 1029 1084 2002 2113 385 1391 1358 1043 2003 2149 372 1479 1117 1071 2004 3599 366 1543 1101 915 2005 4931 353 1487 1196 972 2006 4729 365 1524 1187 892 2007 4975 379 1463 899 883 2008 5546 380 1736 1103 1047 2009 4162 389 1718 1120 1072 2010 4645 364 1781 1350 1016 2011 4330 373 1935 1117 1073 2012 4508 401 1795 1241 1063 2013 5291 384 1883 997 1081 2014 5205 381 1856 1332 1109 2015 5858 398 1816 1089 1161 2016 4971 381 1769 1272 1004 2017 4373 425 1768 1258 1100 2018 5316 425 1827 1269 1135 2019 5426 425 1799 1093 1064 2020 5072 419 1910 1073 1014 2021 4409 435 1722 993 1001 2022 4377 429 1902 1046 890 2023 5009 473 1936 1026 968 *s suppressed as less than 5 imprisonment sentences Notes: The offences included are based on the Ministry of Justice definition of violent crime: Division 01: Homicide and related offences (011: Murder, 012: Attempted Murder, 0131: Manslaughter (does not include ANZOC group 0132: Driving causing death)), Division 02: Acts intended to cause injury, Subdivision 051: Abduction and kidnapping, Subdivision 052: Deprivation of liberty/false imprisonment, and Subdivision 061: Robbery, with the addition of Division 03: Sexual assault and related offences. Data for Subdivision 052: Deprivation of liberty/false imprisonment have been suppressed due to the low number of imprisonment sentences per year (less than 5). Note that these offences have a range of maximum penalties; not all offences within these Divisions are imprisonable, while some have a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Additionally, there are some violent offence types (e.g. Assault which is included in Division 02:Acts intended to cause injury) for which imprisonment sentences are not the most frequent type of sentence imposed. This data extracted the average imposed imprisonment length in days, for people who received an imprisonment sentence for their most serious violent offence per calendar year (which start in January and end in December). A range of information is used to determine which finalised charge is a person's most serious in a year. This includes information such as the final charge outcome, sentence type, sentence length/amount, remands in custody and bail and maximum offence penalties. Not everyone convicted of a violent offence receives an imprisonment sentence, this table only counts where a person received an imprisonment sentence. The computer system used to record charge information was changed to the Case Management System in 2004. As such, caution should be taken when making inferences based on any changes between 2003 and 2004. There were major changes in sentencing legislation during this period. The Sentencing Act 2002 and Parole Act 2002 replaced the Criminal Justice Act 1985, abolishing periodic detention, community service and community programme sentences and introducing community work sentences. Other changes included removing mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder, introducing home invasion as an aggravating factor in sentencing, and the presumptive imposition of a minimum non-parole period of 17 years on a life sentence for murder if it involved unlawful entry in a dwelling. The Sentencing Amendment Act 2007 created new sentences of home detention, community detention and intensive supervision to replace sentences of imprisonment, monetary penalties, and community work. The Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010 introduced mandatory sentencing for three strikes offences (a three-stage regime of increasing consequences for repeat serious violent offenders). Information on minimum non-parole periods for this data was only available for charges from 2004 onwards. The average length of imprisonment sentences is calculated using all imprisonment sentences, including life imprisonment and preventive detention. Source: Ministry of Justice Downloaded from Te Ara | The Encyclopedia of New Zealand www.TeAra.govt.nz