This is a factual reference published by Precision AOD Solutions Ltd, a New Zealand provider of alcohol and other drug (AOD) assessments and forensic reports for sentencing and parole. It sets out, section by section, the statutory answer to who prepares a pre-sentence report, what the report contains, and where independent specialist reports fit.

The Statutory Answer: Sections 26 and 26A

The Sentencing Act 2002 gives the court two report pathways. Section 26 is the general power: the court may direct a probation officer to prepare a report once a person charged with an offence punishable by imprisonment is found guilty or pleads guilty. Section 26A is the mandatory variant: when the court is considering community detention or home detention, it must direct that report — and a probation officer who intends to recommend either sentence must prepare one of their own initiative.

Sentencing Act 2002, s 26(1):

Except as provided in section 26A, if an offender who is charged with an offence punishable by imprisonment is found guilty or pleads guilty, the court may direct a probation officer to prepare a report for the court in accordance with subsection (2).

Sentencing Act 2002, s 26A(1):

If the court is considering a sentence of community detention or home detention, the court must direct a probation officer to prepare a pre-sentence report for the court in accordance with subsection (2).

So the short answer to who prepares a pre-sentence report for a New Zealand court is: a probation officer of the Department of Corrections, directed by the court under s 26 or required by s 26A. That statutory report is not the only report the court will read — counsel can add independent specialist reports, which sit alongside it rather than replacing it.

What the Probation Officer's Report Contains

Section 26(2) sets out what the report may include. The core elements counsel will recognise:

  • the offender's personal, family, whanau, community and cultural background, and social circumstances — s 26(2)(a);
  • factors contributing to the offence and the rehabilitative needs of the offender — s 26(2)(b);
  • any restorative justice outcome or s 10(1) offer, agreement, response or measure — s 26(2)(c);
  • recommendations on the appropriate sentence, taking into account the risk of further offending — s 26(2)(d);
  • for supervision, intensive supervision or home detention, recommendations on conditions — s 26(2)(e).

Two practical points follow. First, the report is allowed to address background and rehabilitative need — which is exactly the territory an independent AOD or psychological assessment evidences in depth. Second, s 26(3) directs that the court must not require a new report on aspects already covered by an existing report unless there has been a significant change: an up-to-date specialist report can matter precisely because it documents what has changed.

Disclosure and the Right to Answer It

Section 28 requires that a copy of any written report submitted to the court — including a s 26 report — be given to the offender and, where represented, to counsel. The offender or counsel may tender evidence on any matter referred to in the report. This is where an independent assessment earns its place: where the statutory report understates substance dependence, misreads treatment history or repeats an actuarial score without clinical context, counsel can answer it with evidence rather than argument.

Sentencing Act 2002, s 28(1) and (3):

If a written report is submitted to a court, whether under section 26 or section 33 or otherwise, a copy of the report must be given ... to the offender; and ... if the offender is represented, to the offender's counsel ... The offender or his or her counsel may tender evidence on any matter referred to in any report, whether written or oral, that is submitted to a court under section 26 or section 33.

The Approved AOD Report Writers' Service

Since 2024 the Ministry of Justice has operated an approved alcohol and other drug report writers' service — a procurement programme that engages AOD practitioners to write reports for sentencing courts. The Ministry's own pages describe the service, its procurement questions and answers, and the arrangements for providers; the programme was publicly launched as a new report-writing service to increase supply of AOD reports for courts.

Three things counsel should understand about the service:

  • It is a court-directed supply programme. Reports under the service are commissioned through the court and justice sector process, not by the defendant directly.
  • It sits within the s 26 pathway. The service supplies report writers to the court process; it does not change the statutory framework — the report still feeds the sentencing inquiry under ss 25, 26 and 26A.
  • It is not the only route to AOD evidence. Defence counsel can independently commission an AOD assessment from a registered clinician, addressed to the same sentencing criteria and timed to the hearing — which is the pathway described below.

Precision AOD Solutions Ltd is an independent provider. It is not part of the Ministry's approved-writers panel, and nothing on this page should be read as suggesting otherwise — the two routes simply coexist, and counsel chooses which evidence pathway serves the client.

Independent Specialist Reports Alongside the PSR

An independent report answers the question the statutory report cannot always reach in the time available: what is driving the offending, what treatment is realistic, and what does the validated evidence say about risk. AOD assessments prepared by DAPAANZ-registered clinicians and psychological or risk assessments prepared by registered psychologists are received by courts throughout New Zealand as defence-commissioned evidence.

The instructing pathway is straightforward: counsel sends a letter of instruction naming the questions the report must answer, the hearing date and the records enclosed; the clinician interviews the client, scores any validated instruments the matter warrants, and produces a court-ready report. Legal Aid funding is claimed where the client is eligible — approval takes around three to four weeks and remains subject to the client's individual circumstances. Our guide to instructing a forensic psychologist sets out the letter-of-instruction mechanics in detail.

How Reports Shape Sentence: The Mitigation Framework

Reports matter because sentencing now runs on an explicit mitigation framework. Following the sentencing reforms, guilty-plea discounts are set by sections 9G to 9K of the Sentencing Act 2002, with the amount determined by the sliding scale in s 9H according to how early the plea was entered — up to 25% — and a combined personal-mitigation ceiling of 40% under s 9Q. Within that architecture, well-evidenced rehabilitation, treatment engagement and cultural background remain central to discount arguments: a pre-sentence report records the risk picture, and an independent AOD or psychological report evidences the mitigating material the discount submissions rely on.

Which Report Does Your Matter Need?

The two report families answer different questions. The statutory report tells the court what Corrections recommends; the independent report tells the court what the clinical evidence supports. Where the two align, the independent report corroborates. Where they differ, it gives counsel something to test and answer. Our statutory reference matrix maps every report type a court or the Board receives to the statute that authorises it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can prepare a pre-sentence report for a New Zealand court?

Court-directed pre-sentence reports are prepared by probation officers under ss 26 and 26A of the Sentencing Act 2002. Independent specialist reports — AOD, psychological and risk assessments — are prepared by registered clinicians and are received by the court alongside the statutory report. Who can prepare which is set by statute; what each says is evidence counsel can test.

Is an independent AOD report the same as a pre-sentence report?

No. A pre-sentence report is the statutory document a probation officer prepares under s 26. An independent AOD report is defence-commissioned evidence addressing offending-related factors, treatment need and rehabilitation. The two are received together at sentencing, and the independent report typically answers the substance-use and treatment questions in more clinical depth.

What is the Approved AOD Report Writers' Service?

It is a Ministry of Justice procurement programme engaging AOD practitioners to write reports for sentencing courts. Reports under the service flow through the court-directed process. It sits inside the s 26 pathway and does not change the statutory framework. Defence counsel can still independently commission an AOD assessment addressed to the same sentencing criteria.

Are independent reports Legal Aid funded?

Where the client is legally aided and the report is granted, the Legal Services Agency funds the report as a disbursement to the aided matter. Approval takes around three to four weeks and remains subject to the client's individual circumstances. Counsel apply with the instruction; the provider invoices the funder rather than the client where funding is granted.

What is the maximum mitigation discount now available?

Under the reformed framework, a guilty plea attracts up to 25% under ss 9G to 9K, scaled by s 9H according to plea timing, and combined personal mitigation is capped at 40% under s 9Q. Evidenced rehabilitation and cultural factors remain central to how the court reaches the figure it applies.

Instructing an Independent Report

Precision AOD Solutions Ltd prepares independent AOD assessments, psychological reports and sentencing risk assessments for courts across New Zealand. Contact us with the hearing date and the questions the report must answer, and we will confirm scope, turnaround and funding pathway the same day. For the report types the Parole Board receives, see our Section 21 parole risk assessment reference; for cultural evidence, see our Section 27 cultural reports reference.