The Judicial Approach to the Youth Discount in Aotearoa New Zealand
The youth discount represents the only specific legislative recognition of the relationship between the age of young adults and their offending. This article presents the first systematic review of the current judicial approach to youth as a mitigating factor. The review analysed 66 sentencing decisions involving young adults convicted of grievous bodily harm or burglary. The sentencing trends identified in the review demonstrate that the current judicial treatment of the youth discount is inconsistent. I argue this inconsistency is the result of some sentencing judges having misinterpreted the rationale that underpins this discount because of an artificial narrowing of the Court of Appeal's findings in Churchward v R [2011] NZCA 531. To address this inconsistency, I recommend introducing a guideline judgment to guide the use of the youth discount. This type of reform strikes an appropriate balance between flexibility and consistency in sentencing.