The Ministry’s Offence and Penalty Vetting (OPV) Team provides guidance to agencies that are developing policy proposals to create new or alter existing offences, criminal penalties, and civil penalties.
This helps to ensure that New Zealand’s offence and penalty settings account for our unique legislative, regulatory, and social contexts, and are being implemented in a consistent and appropriate manner.
This page answers frequently asked questions about the offence and penalty vetting process and how to contact the OPV Team. It is mainly intended to support policy practitioners, but also provides general information about how the Ministry carries out its stewardship role.
Do agencies need to work with the OPV Team?
Agencies are required to consult with the OPV Team on any proposal to create new, or amend existing, offences and penalties.
Our mandate is set out at paragraph 7.36 of the Cabinet Manual(external link).
If proposed offence and penalty changes are being included in a bill, the details of agency consultation with the OPV Team are generally featured in the “Offences, penalties and court jurisdictions” section of Departmental Disclosure Statements.
What type of support does the OPV Team provide?
Our main role is to provide advice and best-practice guidance to agencies that are developing offence and penalty policy proposals. This is to help ensure that proposals are justifiable, appropriate, and proportionate.
Our advice centres on providing feedback to agencies on proposals based on our assessment of individual offences and penalties. Where relevant, we also provide feedback related to how well changes fit within their broader compliance and enforcement regulatory environment.
However, we can assist at all stages of the policy and legislative process. This includes by:
We do not develop offence and penalty proposals on behalf of agencies.
What happens during the offence and penalty vetting process?
Once agencies have developed a policy proposal, the OPV Team will be able to provide specific comments on the proposal itself.
Generally, agencies provide draft proposals and relevant supporting materials (e.g. briefings or 1-pagers setting out the background of the work, policy rationale, and any specific issues or topics for the OPV Team to be aware of) to the OPV Team via email.
Alternatively, we can also provide agencies with a general questionnaire that covers key aspects of proposals to fill out and return to support our vetting process.
If further information is needed to help us vet a proposal, we will request this following our initial assessment. We, or agencies, may seek to have an initial meeting to discuss key points or issues at this time.
When should I approach the Ministry of Justice about offences and penalties?
We encourage agencies to get in touch with the Ministry as early as possible if offences and penalties may be in scope of possible policy options.
How much time do I need to allow for offence and penalty vetting?
Generally, we recommend that agencies provide two weeks for the Ministry to assess offence and penalty proposals. However, this timeframe is flexible and depends on the size of the vet, the complexity of the proposals, and the degree of information provided to us to support our assessment.
If you are progressing urgent policy work and cannot meet this timeline, please get in touch with us as soon as possible to discuss how we can best support you.
Do you have guidance on what agencies should think about when developing offences and penalties?
The Ministry has produced Cabinet approved guidelines for agencies developing infringement schemes. The current guidelines can be found using the link below.
Policy Framework for New Infringement Schemes [PDF, 84 KB]
As with the development of any policy proposal, we also recommend agencies review the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee’s Legislation Guidelines(external link) when creating offence and penalties – in particular the Compliance and Enforcement Section (Chapters 22-27).
How can I get in contact with the OPV Team if I have questions or would like to arrange a vetting?
Contact the Ministry of Justice Offence and Penalty Vetting Team at: offenceandpenaltyvet@justice.govt.nz