Search Results for: penalty unit

Juvenile Offenders To Be Named and Shamed Under New Laws

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 and Increased Penalties for Cycle Offences.

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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Penalty Unit Costs Set For Automatic Increase.

Penalties Units Set for Rise The Penalties and Sentences (Indexation) Amendment Act 2013 was passed on 5 March 2014.  This legislation allows for the annual indexing of penalty units under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 such that further legislation is not required to increase the penalty rate (unless an increase is to be above the indexed rate). The value of a penalty unit will automatically increase each year at a rate to be published by the Treasurer and if no rate is published, by 3.5%. Disclaimer This website contains general information about legal matters.  The information is not advice, and should not be treated …

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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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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.

MANDATORY SENTENCES

  Mandatory sentencing has always been actively contested and denounced for years by bodies such as the Queensland Law Society, the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council as well as other civil libertarian associations throughout the state. Mandatory sentences do not work.   Magistrates and Judges, although bound by legislation, are usually given a wide discretion to determine the appropriate penalty for various offences. The legislation generally prescribes minimum and maximum penalties that ought be imposed. One of the cornerstones of a just and fair judicial system, is the discretion afforded to our courts in sentencing offenders. There is no such thing …

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EVADING POLICE – MANDATORY FINES AND DISQUALIFICATION. WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

The Queensland Government in reaction to a number of police pursuits has imposed mandatory fines and disqualification periods for all offences of Evade Police.  While this may seem appropriate for substantial offences involving dangerous, high speed, police pursuits, the reality is that minor infringements will also see the imposition of these mandatory sentences. Section 754 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, makes it an offence for a driver of a motor vehicle to fail to stop if a police officer, using a police service vehicle, gives the driver a direction to stop the motor vehicle. A police officer will usually …

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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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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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