20Accepting or not denying responsibility for offences

20 Accepting or not denying responsibility for offences (1) This Act does not prevent an offender from pleading not guilty to an offence only because section 19 (1) (b) applies to the offender. (2) A court is not required to reduce the severity of any sentence it may impose on an offender because the court is aware section 19 (1) (b) applies to the offender. Note 1 To be eligible to take part in restorative justice, an offender must accept responsibility for the commission of the offence or, if the offender is a young offender and the offence is a less serious offence or the offender is a child offender, must not deny responsibility for the commission of the offence (see s 19). Note 2 The Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005, s 33 (1) (y) provides that, in deciding how an offender should be sentenced (if at all) for an offence, the matters known to the court that it must consider include whether this Act, s 19 (1) (b) applies to the offender. However, the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005, s 34 (1) (h) provides that a court must not increase the severity of the sentence that it would otherwise impose on a person for an offence because the offender has chosen not to take part, or to continue to take part, in restorative justice for the offence.

Section 21 page 16 Crimes (Restorative Justice) Act 2004