Evidence-based sentencing: lessons from New Zealand case law Event
- Time:
- Date:
- 2025-11-18 12:00:00
- Venue:
- 4/2055 (Law staff common room)
Event details
Professor (Auckland University of Technology Law School)
This talk would explore recent New Zealand jurisprudence on the use of social science evidence in sentencing decisions. Drawing on cases interpreting the Sentencing Act 2002—a statute structurally similar to England and Wales' Sentencing Act 2020—the presentation might examine how courts have engaged with evidence regarding deterrence, the explanatory power of systemic deprivation, and neuroscience research on cognitive development in young adults and those with learning differences.
The discussion could consider how these evidential developments challenge judges to produce sentences that rely less on jurisprudential assumptions underlying traditional justifications for punishment, and more on empirical evidence about human behaviour and decision-making. Given the statutory parallels between New Zealand and England and Wales, the talk would offer a comparative perspective on integrating social science into sentencing practice.
Prof Gledhill's broader research project seeks to compile social science evidence relevant to the purposes, principles, and aggravating and mitigating factors set out in sentencing legislation, alongside original research into deterrence theory as it applies to those subject to criminal justice processes.