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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (7 September) . . Page.. 3084 ..

  • MR STANHOPE
    • (continuing):

  • an indictable offence against Territory law; or

  • an offence against the law of another participating jurisdiction punishable by imprisonment for life or a maximum penalty of 2 or more years of imprisonment.

    • A serious offender is defined as a person who is convicted of a serious offence.

    It is worth looking at section 33D of the Interpretation Act to get a definition of an indictable offence to make clear what a serious offence is and what a serious offender is. As I said, under section 9 a serious offence is an indictable offence against the territory. An indictable offence is defined in the Interpretation Act as an offence under any act that is punishable by imprisonment for a period exceeding one year.

    The Attorney and I have crossed swords in the media over the last couple of weeks on this issue. The Attorney has insisted for some time that this legislation applies only to people convicted of a serious offence, that is, an offence punishable by imprisonment for more than two years. However, I saw the Attorney refer yesterday on television to the definition of an indictable offence and I did think that he reduced it to one year, consistent with the interpretation. But a serious offence is, indeed, an indictable offence and an indictable offence is, indeed, an offence punishable by imprisonment for a period exceeding one year.

    Mr Humphries: That is right, yes; so what is your point?

    MR STANHOPE: I have not done an exhaustive check-perhaps the Attorney has-but the point is that unless there are absolutely no offences in any law of the territory that carry a term of imprisonment of one year, then a serious offence is, in fact, an offence carrying a term of imprisonment of more than one year.

    Mr Humphries: At least one year means more than one year.

    MR STANHOPE: If it is for a period exceeding one year, it is an indictable offence.

    Mr Humphries: Exceeding one year; that is right. Therefore, it is at least two years.

    MR STANHOPE: That is not necessarily the case.

    Mr Humphries: It is.

    MR STANHOPE: Perhaps the Attorney can confirm for me that there is not a single indictable offence in the ACT that carries a term of imprisonment of under two years.

    Mr Humphries: I can tell you that. That is the case.

    MR STANHOPE: I am pleased to hear that. I was under a misapprehension, then. It might have been advisable, Attorney, for your language to reflect the definition of an indictable offence.

    Mr Humphries: It is not my language; it is the language of the drafter.

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