31 Oct

WEAPONS ACT

The Weapons and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012, amended the Weapons Act 1990 (the Act), the Corrective Services Act 2006 (CSA) and the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (PSA) to impose mandatory minimum periods of imprisonment where the offences of unlawful possession (s 50), unlawful supply (s 50B) and unlawful trafficking (s 65) of weapons are committed in certain circumstances. The legislation now provides 18 months imprisonment served wholly in a corrective services facility where an adult unlawfully possesses a firearm and it uses the firearm to commit an indictable offence where the unlawful possession is related to: 10 or …

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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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25 Jun

TWO STRIKE LAW FOR SEX OFFENDERS

The Criminal Law (Two Strike Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill 2012 amends the Penalties And Sentences Act 1992 to insert a new major Tory sentencing regime of life imprisonment for certain repeat child sex offenders and further amends the Corrective Services Act 2006 to prescribe a minimum non-parole period of 20 years imprisonment for an offender sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment under the new sentencing regime. The new regime applies where: An adult offender is convicted of a relevant serious child sex offence (as defined in the Bill): Such offences committed after the commencement of the bill: The offender has …

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