Mana s27 Reports

Cultural and Background Reports under section 27 of the Sentencing Act (2002).

Section 27 of the Sentencing Act (2002) states that ‘an offender may request the court to hear a person on personal, family, whānau, community, and cultural background of the offender’.

Reports under section 27 can provide much needed context for New Zealand courts about what contributed to a persons offending.

Mana Reports aims to improve sentencing outcomes for those disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system. We complete reports under s27 of the *Sentencing Act (2002).*
Our mission is to provide context to New Zealand courts about a client’s background; including unpacking familial, cultural, trauma or mental health related factors. We meet with our clients, their whānau, and / or professional supports to create thorough and informed reports fit for purpose.

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What we do

Meet with the client

We meet with our client at their whare (home), or visit with them if they are in custody. We conduct extensive interviews exploring anything relevant to their offending.
Meet with whanau / professional networks

We interview the clients whānau to further unpack any factors relevant to the offences before the court.
We also interview the clients professional network to support the clients strengths and positive achievements to date.
Research and writing

We begin our research and assessment writing for the completion of the report. We aim to have the report back to the clients legal representative at a requested date, or 7 - 10 business days before the court appearance.

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Client Outcomes

“I have had some pretty ordinary s27 reports done over the past year, where the report writer seemed to just be filling in an existing template. As such, they had little to no discernible impact at sentencing. I recently had cause to contract with Aimee Maaka to have a s27 report done. She was friendly and efficient and produced probably the best s27 report I have read to date. Rather than simply tick boxes, she took a real interest in the case; flew to Auckland and met with my client and his whānau. Her report was well written, on-point and made a difference at sentencing.”
‘Our client appeared for sentencing today. He received a 15% discount for the matters outlined in the cultural report. His end sentence was 5 months’ imprisonment, which was converted to a sentence of six months community detention. In other words, your excellent cultural report made the difference!’
‘Our client had his sentence indication last week. Based on the information contained in the s27 report, the Judge applied a 30 percent discount to the starting point (among other discounts). That is the highest available discount for a section 27 report. So, a great result for overall – thank you very much for helping to achieve that.’
‘It was good news today. Our client had previously accepted a sentence indication of 29 months’ imprisonment. If the end sentence came under 24 months’ making him eligible for home detention, the Judge had indicated that they would be prepared to allow our client to apply for home detention to a suitable rehabilitation facility. After considering your report and the other material before the court, the judge today gave a further 5 and a half month discount bringing the end sentence to 23 months’ imprisonment. Leave was granted to apply for home detention should a place in a suitable rehabilitation facility become available. Our client was over the moon with the outcome.’