Three strikes' law may have merit, says Key

Three-strikes legislation to deal with repeat offenders might work in NZ, says PM John Key. Photo / Dean Purcell

There may be "some merit" in three-strikes legislation for repeat offenders, says Prime Minister John Key.

The policy was promoted at the Sensible Sentencing Trust's fifth annual conference in Taupo this weekend.

Mr Key said National had been working with ACT on it.

"There's been a few iterations but as I understand it, its gone through the select committee."

There needed to be a balance between issuing harsher sentences to those who deserved them and "not blowing out the population that are in prison... because that comes with tremendous costs", Mr Key told TV One's Breakfast programme.

There was a "whole range of stuff" that the Government was doing to get tough on crime, he said.

"Which is all in response to what we perceive to be a public that's sick and tired of feeling threatened in their own home and their own communities."

Mr Key ruled out electing judges, another of the ideas to surface at the conference.

"That's not really the basis under which the judiciary is appointed at this point and we have to be very careful about the way that judges are appointed," Mr Key told Newstalk ZB.

The Government was attempting to address the burden the justice system put on victims, he said.

The $50 levy to be paid by anyone convicted of a crime would "hopefully, over time, become a fund" for victims.

Police Minister Judith Collins told the conference the Government was already clamping down on criminals with new legislation.

It was acting on the concerns of New Zealanders who had had enough of gangs, drugs and illegal, dangerous behaviour, she said.

Those at the conference also asked for the scrapping of the law they say shelters defendants who keep quiet while they are on trial.

"This does not mean that people would be forced to talk. It is just that if they don't, the jury can take that into account," Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said.

- NZPA