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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 05 Hansard (Friday, 14 May 2004) . . Page.. 2109 ..

The amendment provides that the Registrar may serve a notice in writing to an offending person. The notice must advise them that they are breaching the Cooperatives Act and that they have six months to restructure as a cooperative to avoid criminal proceedings.

Crimes Act 1900

The amendment to the Crimes Act 1900 addresses the problem of assault allegations which are minor being argued in the ACT Supreme Court. Ideally the courts system should allow for only the most serious cases to be heard by the Territory’s Supreme Court. These more serious cases are often delayed due to the number of minor assault allegations that ‘choke’ up the system.

The amendment changes the offence of common assault by shortening the maximum penalty of certain assault cases to six months imprisonment. Attaching a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment to these assault cases ensures that they may be dealt with by the ACT Magistrates Court. This amendment does not affect the ability to have more serious common assault allegations tried on indictment.

Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000

The Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 enables police to take DNA samples from volunteers, suspects and serious offenders. The Act also authorises matching between DNA profiles for the purposes of criminal investigations. Section 97 of the Act contains a table which sets out the law on matching different types of DNA profiles. Anomalies in the table have been identified which rendered the table ineffectual in providing a clear statement on what is, and is not, a lawful match. The amendments eliminate the anomalies in the table.

Domestic Relationships Act 1994

The amendment to the Domestic Relationships Act 1994 repeals the definition of a ‘solicitor’ from section 31. The definition of ‘solicitor’ which is in the Legislation Act 2001 now applies.

In addition, a transitional provision has been included to facilitate a smooth change with the amendment. This extra provision ensures that the new definition of solicitor applies both before and after the amendment.

Justices of the Peace Act 1989

The Justices of the Peace Act 1989 was previously silent as to the requirements for the appointment and revocation of appointments for Justices of the Peace in the Territory. As a result, the Legislation Act dictated that all appointments and revocations required consultation with the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs and are disallowable instruments. This procedure is impractical for appointing Justices of the Peace. The amendment provides that the appointments and revocations do not now require consultation with the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs, but are notifiable instruments.

Legislation Act 2001

The amendments to the Legislation Act 2001 addresses the time limits for commencing prosecutions. The timeline for prosecuting individuals is currently different from the timelines for prosecuting corporations (or individuals who aid and abet corporations). The amendment to the Legislation Act proposes to make the commencement times consistent between the two, by changing the time limit for prosecuting corporations (and individuals who aid and abet corporations).

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