On 28 April 2016 the Governor approved the Penalties and Sentences Amendment Regulation (No.1) 2016(the PSR Amendment). It commences on 1 July 2016 and amends the Penalties and Sentences Regulation 2015 (the PSR) to prescribe a new penalty unit value of $121.90 From 1 July 2016, penalty unit values will increase from $117.80 to $121.90.
Category: Penalties
Animal cruelty laws have been dramatically increased in the last twelve months. Late last year the animal cruelty laws were increased from a maximum of two years imprisonment or a fine of $110,000.00 to four years imprisonment and or a fine of $220,000.00. Today the period of imprisonment was again, almost doubled with a maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment. The penalty of animal cruelty is set to nearly double following the introduction of a new indictable offence of Serious Animal Cruelty. The offence is said to target people who deliberately inflict severe pain and suffering upon an animal. …
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More than 120 revellers face criminal convictions for drug offences following last weekends Stereosonic concert in Fortitude Valley.A total of 123 people were arrested and charged with 127 offences including supplying a dangerous drug, possession of dangerous drugs and other associated drug and property related charges. Drug convictions can significantly impact on employment prospects and prohibit overseas travel. In some circumstances a Court has the power not to record a conviction It is imperative that anyone appearing in Court for drug charges, request that no conviction is recorded. For help or advice contact our Brisbane office on (07) 3303 0248
Sentencing procedure has been significantly amended with the introduction of the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014. The act amends section 9 (Sentencing guidelines) by omitting and excluding the sentencing principle that prison is a sentence of last resort. That is imprisonment is not a sentence of last resort, and is now a starting point in the sentencing process. This means that in sentencing any offender for any offence punishable by imprisonment, the court must not have regard to any principle, whether under statute or at law, that a sentence of imprisonment should only be imposed as a last resort. Any …
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16
Sep
Online Plea Of Guilty
Minor Traffic offences commenced by way of a complaint and summons, can now be resolved by way of an online plea of guilty. The days of attending the bulk traffic call over and waiting to have minor traffic offences determined by a Magistrate can be avoided. The new online guilty plea form allows the Court to take into account your timely plea of guilty and other relevant factors without the need to attend in person. Anyone wishing to plead guilty online should give thought to using the process. They need to be cautious however as to the consequences of pleading …
Mollie Roper obtained an exceptional result for this mornings disqualified driving sentence. Our client was charged with one count of disqualified driving and another count of disqualified driving whilst intoxicated. The second offence was committed in the same week and while on bail for the original offence. Our client was originally disqualified from driving for a high range drink drive charge. Generally, for offending of this type a community based order and/or a period of imprisonment would be imposed. After hearing extensive submissions made by Ms Roper the Magistrate sentenced the client to: A fine; and The minimum mandatory periods …
New criminal laws have been passed for juvenile offenders in Queensland with a substantial overhaul of the Qld Childrens Court process. These changes are substantial in that they remove the requirement for a sentence of imprisonment to be a sentence of last resort and open up the children’s court for repeat offenders. They go further in that the prohibition against reporting children’s names before, during and after proceedings has been removed for alleged repeat offenders. Changes to Qld Childrens Court The changes to Qld Childrens Court include: Permit repeat offenders’ identifying information to be published; Open the Childrens Court for …
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New Traffic Laws Introduce Cycling Reforms. Queensland has new traffic laws following the introductions of the Transport Legislation and Another Regulation Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 2014. These new traffic laws are primarily aimed at addressing the road safety of cyclists by introducing a new minimum distance of up to 1.5 metres between any vehicle and a cyclist. The offence is set to carry a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units and the loss of three (3) demerit points. The new traffic laws follow the Parliamentary Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee report “A new direction for cycling in Queensland”. The …
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The Government today outlined its new coward punch laws and other increased penalties under its draft ‘Safe Night Out Strategy. In what seems to be a theme of the current government’s legislative platform, existing charges are to be replicated with newly created offences and penalties increased. The government has adopted the big stick approach by increasing the maximum penalty for drunken behaviour in an effort to deter outrageous drunken violence. The problem with this approach is that young, drunken, predominately men, are unlikely to consider the outcome of their actions whilst drunk and accordingly, unlikely to think about the massive penalties the …
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The Attorney-General is to appeal the Cowan sentence imposed in the Brisbane Supreme Court. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Jarrod Bleijie has instructed the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal the sentence of Brett Peter Cowan, who was convicted of murdering Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe in 2003. The Attorney-General has advised Crown Prosecutors that he is of the view that the non-parole period that was sentence must be appealed because it is manifestly inadequate, is not in line with community expectations and does not set an adequate deterrent. The sentence imposed by The Honourable Justice R Atkinson in the …
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