YOUNG OFFENDERS ACT 1994 - SECT 118
YOUNG OFFENDERS ACT 1994 - SECT 118
118 . Sentencing for offences punishable by imprisonment
(1) If the statutory
penalty for an offence is or includes imprisonment and the court dealing with
the offender decides to impose a custodial sentence, the court may —
(a)
impose a term of imprisonment under Part 13 of the Sentencing Act 1995 but
may not impose suspended imprisonment under Part 11 of that Act or conditional
suspended imprisonment under Part 12 of that Act; or
(b)
sentence the offender to a term of detention that is not longer than the term
of imprisonment to which the offender would have been liable if the offender
were not a young person.
(2) Despite section 86
of the Sentencing Act 1995 the court sentencing a young person to a term of
imprisonment or a term of detention may impose a term of 6 months or less.
(3) If the court
sentences an offender to imprisonment it may, subject to Part 14 of the
Sentencing Act 1995 , also sentence the offender to indefinite imprisonment.
(4) If the court
sentences an offender to imprisonment it may, if the offender is at least 16
and under 18 years old and having regard to the matters in section 178(4),
direct that the offender serve the sentence in a prison under the
Prisons Act 1981 .
(5) If the court
sentences the offender to a term of imprisonment, the Sentencing Act 1995 and
the Sentence Administration Act 2003 , with any necessary changes, apply to
and in respect of the sentence imposed.
[Section 118 inserted: No. 78 of 1995 s. 143;
amended: No. 29 of 1998 s. 21; No. 50 of 2003 s. 29(3) and 104(2); No. 27 of
2004 s. 17; No. 5 of 2008 s. 132(3); No. 15 of 2023 s. 8.]