A person who commits an offence punishable by imprisonment during the operational period of a suspended sentence is at risk of having that suspended sentence restored: s 31 Sentencing Act 1991.(I say 'at risk' because the meaning applied to exceptional circumstances that make it unjust to restore a suspended sentence can vary widely: see R …
Tag: criminal procedure
R v Carpenter [2011] ACTSC 71: Requirements of a valid identification
R v Carpenter [2011] ACTSC 71 involved a series of pre-trial rulings about the admissibility of identification evidence.Identification evidence means evidence that is—(a) an assertion by a person to the effect that a defendant was, or resembles (visually, aurally or otherwise) a person who was, present at or near a place where— (i) the offence …
Continue reading R v Carpenter [2011] ACTSC 71: Requirements of a valid identification
Legislation Watch: Justice Legislation Amendment (Infringement Offences) Bill 2011
For the past three years the state government has been trialling infringement notices for selected summary and one indictable offence. These are:offensive behaviour and indecent language under s 17 of the Summary Offences Act 1966; liquor-related offences: consume, supply or possess liquor on unlicensed premises under s 113(1) of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1999; …
Continue reading Legislation Watch: Justice Legislation Amendment (Infringement Offences) Bill 2011
Sentencing children
Edit: The sentencing decision referred to below is no longer good law, due to the Court of Appeal's decision in CNK v The Queen [2011] VSCA 228.At 15,For the reasons we have given, the language of the statute conveys a clear legislative intention to exclude general deterrence. Whilst that intention is not made explicit, it …
Virtual justice
Update: Back in 2009 I posted about the introduction of video-feeds between courtrooms and police stations in the UK. A couple of weeks ago the ABC's Law Report did a follow-up on how that system is working.As the Magistrates' Court of Victoria unveils its new virtual tour (following in the footsteps of Tasmania and South …