R v Mist

The Supreme Court of New Zealand heard an appeal from the Court of Appeal in R v Mist. The appellant was sentenced by the High Court to a total of 16 years imprisonment for multiple sexual offences committed when he was under the age of 21. The Court of Appeal substituted a sentence of preventive detention, which the appellant now appeals. The Court of Appeal's decision was based on the interpretation of s 75 of the Criminal Justice Act 1985, which provides for a sentence of preventive detention for offenders over the age of 21 who commit certain serious sexual offences. The Court of Appeal held that the appellant was eligible for preventive detention as he was over the age of 21 at the time of his conviction and sentence, despite being under 21 at the time of the offending. The Supreme Court held that s 75 of the Criminal Justice Act 1985 required the appellant to be over the age of 21 at the time of the offending, not at the time of conviction or sentence. The Court found that s 4(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1985, which prohibits a court from imposing a sentence that it could not have imposed at the time of the offence, applied to the appellant's case. As the appellant was under 21 at the time of the offending, he was ineligible for preventive detention. The appeal was therefore allowed, and the sentence of preventive detention was quashed. The sentence imposed in the High Court was reinstated, but without prejudice to the Solicitor-General's submission that, in total, the finite sentences were manifestly inadequate. The question whether that was so was remitted to the Court of Appeal for determination by that Court as if the Solicitor-General were seeking leave to appeal on that issue.