PremiumOpinionOpinion byDavid HarveyLaw & society columnist·NZ Herald·24 May, 2026 03:00 AM6 mins to readDavid Harvey is a retired district court judge‌The option to discharge without conviction has become too widely used, according to David Harvey. Photo / Alyse Wright The discharge without conviction was conceived as an act of judicial restraint. Where the lifelong consequences of a criminal record would impose punishment far exceeding the gravity of the offending, courts were given a mechanism to withhold conviction while still marking wrongdoing.

In its proper sphere – minor,