The officer conducting the search must be of the same sex as the prisoner and must be accompanied of an officer of the same sex.

Upon arrival, each female prisoner receives sanitary supplies.

The Corrections (Mothers and Babies) Amendment Act 2008 created “Self Care Units” and “Feeding and Bonding Facilities”. The first are independent units that replicate a domestic space with a kitchenette and a sleeping room for the baby. The second are destined to mothers whose children are being cared by the community. Children can bond with their mothers for up to 12 hours a day in a space that replicates the lounge room of a regular house.

The Children Young Persons and Their Families Act regulates the two offending processes in the juvenile justice system: the child offending process (from 10 to 13 years) and the youth justice process (from 14 to 16 years old).

Law provides sanctions such as educational placement. It also provides imprisonment but only as a last resort and only for the shortest appropriate period of time: 28% of offences committed by a minor end up in the Youth Court.

The types of correctional facilities that hold minors are four Youth Justice Residences, managed by the Ministry of Social Development and special youth units for children aged 17 years old.

In the Youth Justice Residence, boys and girls are intentionally mixed together in order to benefit their behaviour modification programs and activities.

Life imprisonment is mandatory for treason. Terrorism, manslaughter, murder and Class A drug dealing can be subject to a life imprisonment sentence.

813 people have been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder since 1980. Only six people have been sentenced to life imprisonment for other offences during that same period (one for manslaughter and five for drug offences).

Offenders must serve a minimum of ten years before they can be eligible for parole. Judges can dictate a longer period or no possibility of parole at all. If the offender is released, he is on parole for the rest of his life.

There is no maximum time for pre-trial detention in the youth justice system. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention pointed a “growing trend” of juvenile offenders being held in police stations for long periods of time instead of being placed in Youth Justice Residences.

Lengthy periods of time in remand may prevent prisoners from obtaining an early release from prison.

Mãori assigned in a Māori Focus Unit can approach their identity from a positive perspective, learn basic skills and prepare a life structure before their release (accommodation and whānau, family or community support). There are currently a few inmates in each prison with a Māori Focus Unit that can benefit from this program[^2].

[^2]:“Why are there so many Maori in New Zealand’s prisons?” in Al Jazeera, June 2nd 2016.

The UN Committee against Torture and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention expressed concerns over the disproportionally high number of Māori imprisoned. They represent half of the entire prison population even though they make up 15% of the country’s general population. Māori women represent two thirds of the female prison population.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention showed concern over the “persistent bias against Maori at all levels of the criminal justice system”. The SPT was worried about the “increasing delays within the Court system” and the fact that pre-trial detention is “not used only as a measure of last resort and is often unduly prolonged.”¹

Scholars point to multiple factors to explain the phenomenon of the Māori minority mass incarceration, such as socio-economic disadvantage dating back to colonial times, and systematic bias influencing court decisions. Professor Warren Brookbanks stated that this disproportionality is the Three Strikes’ most ‘disturbing feature’ and echoed previous critiques that when we compare strikers to the general population we see a ‘dramatic ethnic overrepresentation of both Māori and Pasifika, akin to that of African-Americans under California’s three strikes law.

The abolitionist group No Pride in Prisons defends the LGBTI community’s rights in prison.

The death penalty was abolished in 1961 for murder but retained for treason. It was abolished altogether, for civilian and military offences in 1989. The last execution was carried out in 1957.