General Guidelines for Writing Reports

Introduction

This topic outlines general guidelines for writing reports.

Information provided

Information and advice provided to the court, New Zealand Parole Board (NZPB) and Prison Services (PS) should be made up of well-supported reasoning leading to appropriate recommendations. It is important that information provided about offenders is:

• clear, concise, and easily understood
• consistent with the key principles of offender management, and
• consistent with the Sentencing Act 2002, the Parole Act 2002, and other legislation and core law.

Important: Ensure that all subsequent amendments to the legislation are taken into account.

Report standards

The following are general guidelines for ensuring that the required quality of reports is maintained.

• Reports are to be written in the specified format.
• Information must be verified.
• Reports are to be concise, logical and grammatically correct.
• The recommendations, if required, are to be stated clearly and be consistent with the law.
• Reports are to be checked by a Service Manager or their delegate before the report is submitted to the court/NZPB.

Further detail regarding the department’s standards for writing reports can be found:

• in the corporate communications manuals titled:
  • Writing Reports
  • Formatting Standards Manual, and
• on Corrnet, under the ‘Policy and Standards’ tab, hyperlink titled ‘Writing standards manual’.

Format guidelines

The following format guidelines must be followed in all cases when preparing a report:

• Use the standard cover sheets and format.
• List all attachments after the probation officer’s signature.
• Attach a copy of the report and (if relevant) an appendix.

Accountability

The content of any report is open to challenge by the offender, the offender’s counsel, or the victim(s). Probation officers may occasionally be required to give evidence in court or at a NZPB hearing to respond to disputes on the content of their report. This may be through:

• giving evidence in court
• an appeal of sentence being lodged
• a recall hearing, or
• a complaint to the privacy commissioner or ombudsman.

It is the duty of all probation officers to use their best professional judgement at all times. As an employer, the Department of Corrections has responsibility for the actions of probation officers in performing their official duties.

If unsure about what constitutes “best professional judgment” in a particular situation:

• discuss with a service manager or senior probation officer, or
• ring the CPPS operations helpdesk.

Use of names

Wherever possible, do not refer to people as their role in the report (e.g. the ‘offender’, ‘defendant’ or ‘prisoner’) or by their surname or given name only. Instead, use one of the following:

• Mr, Ms, etc. and the person’s surname, or
• both the person’s given name and surname.

Consult those mentioned in the report about their preference.
At first mention of the person, their given name and surname should be used.

Note: Victims’ names must not be used unless there are exceptional circumstances. They should be referred to as ‘the victim(s)’. When a victim’s name is used, this must be checked with the service manager before the report is completed.

Te Reo Māori

Words and/or phrases in Māori in pre-sentence reports can be used where they:

• will contribute to the court’s understanding, and/or
• express concepts or emotions for which there are no exact English equivalents.

Note: Care should be taken to spell these words correctly.

Stating opinions

If your opinions are included in the report, such statements should be phrased in a way to make it clear that they are your opinions.

Examples:

• In the first person, e.g. ‘I believe’, ‘I think’ or ‘In my opinion’. This is the preferred approach.
• In the third person, e.g. ‘The writer of this report believes’ or ‘It is the opinion of the writer that’.

Note: It is not an acceptable approach to say ‘The Department considers’.

If the report includes the opinions of others, such as a friend or relative of the offender, the report should make it clear that the statement reflects the opinion of that person.

Collect information from offenders

When completing a report about an offender who has previously appeared, do not rely on previous reports for personal information. Collect the information again from the offender to ensure it is:

• up-to-date
• complete, and
• accurate.

Note: Ensure information is verified by the offender where possible.

Referencing sources

In each report, the source of any information supplied by anyone other than the offender must be stated. This includes any information provided by the probation officer.

Note: Verify the information gained from the offender during the assessment process with at least two additional sources.

Storing information

Where possible, report assessment booklets should be stored on the offender file at the local office where the offender is serving their sentence/order.

If the offender is not sentenced to a community-based/non custodial sentence, the report assessment booklet and all other information should be stored on a closed file in the office where the report was written. The location of the file should be entered in the offender case notes in IOMS.