District Court Archives - Gatenby Criminal Law

29 Jun

COVID-19 Court Arrangements – June 21 Lockdown

A number of clients have raised concerns about Covid-19 Court arrangements for their court matters following the announcement by the Premier that Southeast Queensland is in a three day lockdown commencing tonight at 6:00pm. If you have any questions, please call our office on (07)55800 120 and we will answer them for you. Below we provide a brief overview of the Covid-19 court arrangements. Our office: We are an essential service and will remain open for court appearances especially Bail Applications. We will be available for phone conferences or video conferences. Our office utilises end to end encrypted software for …

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02 Dec

Qld set to overturn Barbaro & Zirilli v The Queen [2014]

Barbaro & Zirilli is a 2014 High Court Decision which effectively brought to an end the practice of Prosecutors providing the Court with an appropriate sentencing range. Until 2014 it was usual for the prosecution to provide the Court with assistance not only as to the facts of a sentence but also with a range that the Crown considered appropriate for the offending. The case itself involved conspiring to traffic a commercial quantity of MDMA, trafficking a commercial quantity of MDMA and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of cocaine. The accused men, Mr Barbaro and Mr Zirilli agreed to …

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22 Oct

Increased penalties for QLD Stock Offences

The minimum fines for stock offences have increased from $200 to $1100 per animal or the value of the animal, whichever is the higher amount. Other amendments to the legislation will benefit investigating authorities and primary producers by: Empowering police to effectively investigate stock crime by extending stock-related search warrant durations from 7 to 21 days Modernising evidentiary requirements in stock offence prosecutions Maintaining the ability of police to immediately return cattle to victims of crime where there is no dispute as to ownership Streamlining the disposal process where there is a dispute as to ownership, allowing the stock to be …

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10 Sep

Fail to Appear – What happens

It an offence to fail to appear in court in accordance with a bail undertaking. The court has the power to revoke the bail undertaking, forfeit any sureties and issue a warrant for your arrest. What if I had a really good reason for failing to appear? The Court requires a person to show cause why they have failed to appear and in some exceptional cases, the court will accept a lawful excuse and discharge the person. In showing cause the person needs to establish that they were unable to attend court. An example might be that the accused person was in …

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05 Sep

BANNING ORDERS – WHAT ARE THEY AND CAN I DEFEND THEM?

A banning order is a order that prohibits an offender, until a stated date, from doing or attempting to do any of the following: Entering or remaining in a stated licensed premises ; or a stated class of licensed premises; Entering or remaining in, during stated hours, a stated area that is a particular distance from the licensed premises; Attending or remaining at a stated event, to be held in a public place, at which liquor will be sold for consumption. Banning orders can prohibit entry to stated places. The Court has a wide discretion in relation to the terms …

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05 Sep

COMMONWEALTH PENALTY UNIT

On 28 November 2012, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious Drugs, Identity Crime and Other Measures) Bill 2012 received royal assent. This act increases the value of a penalty unit from $110 to $170.00 and requires the value of a penalty unit to be reviewed every three (3) years. The value of a penalty unit has not increased since 1997. The change affects the value of a penalty unit in most Commonwealth laws, including the Taxation Administration Act 1953. The new value of a penalty unit applies where the matter at giving rise to the penalty occurs on or after 28 December 2012.

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23 Oct

SENTENCING CONSIDERATIONS

It is an important sentencing principle that parity exist in sentences imposed for like offences. In a diverse state such a Queensland, with three levels of Courts; Magistrates, District and Supreme, there needs to be an overriding set of guidelines to ensure that sentences imposed upon offenders are consistent. The Penalties and Sentences Act sets out the parameters within which the courts must operate. The legislation does this by setting out the purpose of imposing sentences and then establishes the principles that the Court is to apply in achieving those purposes. The purpose of imposing a sentence can be classified …

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21 Aug

OFFENDER LEVY

Defendants found guilty of offences in the Supreme, District and Magistrates Courts will pay an offender levy with recent amendments to the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (“the Act”). The levy will apply as follows: Supreme Court $300.00 District Court $300.00 Magistrates Court $100.00 This levy will apply to all adult offenders; there are no exceptions regardless of the nature of the offence or the offender’s personal circumstances. The offender levy is automatically imposed at the conclusion of sentencing as an administrative levy and is in addition to any other sentence imposed. The levy must …

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