Page 2367 - Week 08 - Thursday, 6 June 2013
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increase in the value of infringement notice schemes will be addressed on a case by case basis through amending regulations made by the executive and tabled in the Assembly. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mr Wall) adjourned to the next sitting.
Crimes (Sentencing) Amendment Bill 2013
Mr Corbell, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (10.54): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Today I present the Crimes (Sentencing) Amendment Bill 2013. This bill’s purpose is to encourage defendants to participate in the running of an efficient trial. The bill proposes amendments to the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 to allow the court to impose a reduced sentence where an offender has facilitated the administration of justice by cooperating to ensure that the trial is focused as efficiently as possible on the real issues in dispute.
New section 35A allows a court to impose a lesser penalty, including a shorter non-parole period, on an offender than it would otherwise have imposed having regard to the degree of assistance provided in the administration of justice. The provision is designed to encourage cooperation in ensuring that the trial is focused as efficiently as possible on the real issues in dispute. The provision will extend to allowing a reduced sentence to be imposed where an offender, while maintaining a not guilty plea through to trial, has nevertheless facilitated the administration of justice through pre-trial disclosures, disclosures made during the trial or otherwise, admissions and early indication of which elements of an offence are in issue.
A similar provision exists in New South Wales and, accordingly, the case law that exists on this provision in New South Wales will serve as a guide to the ACT judiciary in applying new section 35A.
New section 35A ensures that a lesser penalty imposed must not be unreasonably disproportionate to the nature and circumstances of the offence. The new section clarifies that the power is not intended to limit the operation of existing sections 35 and 36 which allow for reduced sentences where the defendant has pleaded guilty or provided assistance to law enforcement agencies.
The court will be required to give a statement where it imposes a lesser penalty for an offence under this new power. The court must state the penalty it would have imposed, and the reasons for imposing the lesser penalty.
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