Common crimes
Assault
Types of assault charges and penalties
“Common assault”: The basic assault charge
Summary Offences Act 1981, s 9; Crimes Act 1961, s 196
If you’re charged with a basic assault charge – “common assault” – this can either be under:
- the Summary Offences Act 1981, with a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to $4,000, or
- the Crimes Act 1961, in more serious cases, which has a maximum penalty of up to one year’s imprisonment.
If you plead not guilty, you’ll have a trial in the District Court in front of a judge, and you won’t have the right to a jury trial. This is because these are both Category 2 offences. The processes for the four different categories are explained in the chapter “The criminal courts” – see: “Overview of how the criminal courts work”.
Note: It’s quite common for the police to bring a charge under the more serious Crimes Act assault provision, and to then agree with the defendant to reduce it to Summary Offences Act assault if the defendant pleads guilty. Informally this is sometimes called “plea bargaining”.
What is an “assault”?
Crimes Act 1961, s 2(1), “assault” definition Summary Offences Act 1981, s 2(1), “assault” definition
The legal definition of assault is very wide – it covers any situation where you intentionally apply force against another person’s body without their consent. It also includes when you do this indirectly – by throwing something for example.
An assault can include very minor force. However, the amount of force used will be relevant when the police are deciding whether to charge you – and, if you’re charged and convicted, when the judge is deciding what sentence to give you.
An assault also includes threatening to apply force to another person’s body – but only if you’re able to carry out your threat or if you make the other person believe on reasonable grounds that you can carry it out. The threat can be by a statement, act or gesture (like clenching your fist). This means that aggressive behaviour like, for example, bashing walls around a family member could also amount to an assault, even though you haven’t touched the other person.
An “assault” also includes an attempted assault, so you can be convicted of assault even if you “swing and miss”.
Example: Assault in a bar
The defendant was drunk in a bar and tried to hit a security guard, unsuccessfully. He was convicted of common assault (Summary Offences Act) and sentenced to two and half months’ imprisonment, including a discount for pleading guilty. He had a very long record of minor offending, and had alcohol and mental health issues.
What sentence am I likely to get for common assault?
For a “common assault” at the minor end of the scale, you may be able to get a discharge without conviction, as in this example:
Example: Discharge without conviction
The defendant had played a very minimal role in an assault by a family group on one of its members. She was a working solo mother of three with no criminal record, studying for a business diploma and hoped to apply for better jobs in the future. The judge considered that the test for a discharge without conviction was met. The effect of a conviction for such a minor assault – harming her future job prospects – would have been out of all proportion to her offending.
For more serious cases of common assault, you may be fined or given a community-based sentence or prison term, particularly if you have any previous assault convictions, as in these examples:
Example: Both aggravating and mitigating features
A defendant was convicted of common assault under the Summary Offences Act and given 100 hours’ community work and six months’ supervision for two uppercut punches to the victim’s head. There were various aggravating and mitigating features that roughly cancelled out: it was a “brazen” assault in front of the police and she had a criminal record; but on the other hand there were no previous assault convictions, it was four years since the last offence, and she’d pleaded guilty as well as expressed remorse.
Example: Defendant was refused a discharge without conviction
A defendant in a more serious assault case involving punching and kicking was refused a discharge without conviction and given nine months’ supervision and 100 hours’ community work. She had previous assault convictions, which the judge said argued strongly against getting the discharge. The defendant said she’d just enrolled in a real estate agent’s course, but the judge didn’t give this much weight; he said that it might have been different if she’d already been doing the course for some time and was now about to apply for a real estate agent’s licence.
Example: Six months’ imprisonment
A defendant was given six months’ imprisonment for an unprovoked assault from behind on a stranger. He was charged with common assault under the Crimes Act. Although the assault caused the victim little harm, the defendant had a long criminal record including other assault convictions.
More serious charges for violent offending
Crimes Act 1961, ss 194, 192, 193, 189(2), 188(2), 189(1), 188(1)
Beyond common assault, there are a range of offences for violent behaviour of increasing seriousness, including:
- male assaults female (with a maximum penalty of two years’ prison)
- aggravated assault (maximum penalty – three years)
- assault with intent to injure (maximum penalty – three years)
- intentionally or recklessly injuring a person (maximum penalty – five years)
- wounding/causing grievous bodily harm with intent to cause injury or with reckless disregard for the safety of others (maximum penalty – seven years)
- injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (maximum penalty – 10 years)
- wounding/causing grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (maximum penalty – 14 years).
Example: Assault on disabled employer
A defendant was imprisoned for 10 months after attacking his employer, who had only one leg and needed crutches in daily life. He had pushed the employer to the ground and then hit him approximately 12 times with one of the steel crutches. These hits damaged the crutch. The defendant pleaded guilty to assault with intent to injure (and also to a charge of threatening to cause grievous bodily harm). He had a recent previous assault conviction.
Family violence: Sentencing in specialist Family Violence Courts
A large proportion of assault charges involve family violence. Some District Courts have specialist Family Violence Courts (including in Waitakere, Manukau, Auckland City, Lower Hutt, Masterton and Porirua), and these are better equipped to deal with this type of offending.
Staff at these specialist courts work with people who have experienced family violence to make sure they and their children are safe, and will put them in touch with other government agencies and community services that can help, like Women’s Refuge and Stopping Violence programmes. The Family Violence Courts deals with family violence cases together at one time with specialist judges, prosecutors and victim advisors, and they have close working relationships with the key community support services.
The Family Violence Courts also encourage defendants to address their issues – for example, by taking part in family violence programmes or drug/alcohol counselling.
Other District Courts that don’t have those specialist resources and expertise will generally treat family violence offences in the same way as assaults outside family settings.
For information about protections against family violence (which the law used to call “domestic” violence), see: “Family violence and elder abuse“.
