Youth Justice Reforms Queensland’s 17 year old offenders are the only youths in the Country being sentenced outside the youth justice system. By treating 17 year olds as adults in the criminal justice system, Queensland has been inconsistent not only with the rest of the country, but also in breach the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under proposed youth justice reforms, 17 year olds are to be considered children.  It is anticipated that all children under the age of 18 year will proceed through the Youth Justice System.  The proposed reforms are hoped to reduce the rate of recidivism by diverting …

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Sentencing law to be assisted by Sentencing Advisory Council Sentencing law is a complex and often controversial part of the Criminal process.  In considering the competing elements of the sentencing discretion, Magistrates and Judges are often criticised as being too harsh or too lenient. In March 2016 the Queensland Premier introduced the Penalties and Sentences (Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council) Amendment Bill into the Queensland Parliament. The purpose was to re-establish the Sentencing Advisory Council.  The new council is largely modelled on regime abolished by the former government in 2012. Purpose The proposed purpose of the Council is to: Ensure public confidence in the …

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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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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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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 …

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Current Law. The Driver of a motor vehicle is required to furnish a traffic crash report to police as soon as possible to the nearest police station. Section 92 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 and section 287 of the Queensland Road Rules require drivers involved in crashes and other incidents that result in more than $2 500 damage to report those incidents to police. Drivers must also report to police if a person is injured or killed in the crash or a motor vehicle involved in the crash needs to be towed from the scene. Maximum …

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The Queensland Government is set to allow automatic number plate recognition camera systems or ANPR camera systems to detect unregistered drivers, through proposed amendments to the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995. Approximately 3% of Queensland’s 4.5 million vehicles could potentially be unregistered (up to 135 000 vehicles).  This looks set to increase when the Government scraps Registration Labels for light vehicles from October 1, 2014.  Unregistered Vehicle Generally, when a vehicle is unregistered, that also means it does not have CTP insurance (“uninsured vehicle”). However, CTP insurance continues for a grace period of 30 days after the expiry of …

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Reforms included in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2014  The Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2014 sees reform in a number of criminal law areas. The proposed amendments include harsher penalties for various offences and further mandatory sentencing provisions. The proposals are generally in line with the “Tough-on-Crime” mandate set by the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mr Jarrod Bleijie. The creation of further offences, such as the match-fixing provisions, is in line with provisions currently operating in other State jurisdictions. It is difficult to extrapolate what impact, if any, these provisions will have on offending as harsher penalties and/or …

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Notices to Appear Under current legislation the Queensland Police Service is required to personally serve Notices to Appear on alleged offenders.  This process ensures that the alleged offender is aware that they have been charged and the date upon which they are required to appear in Court. The changes proposed by the Police Minister are said to affect service of Notices to Appear in relation to: Failing to stop a motor vehicle on direction; Provisional drivers, driving a restricted vehicle; Exceed speed limit by more than 40kmh; Failing to stop at a red light; Public nuisance; Disorderly behaviour; and Threatening …

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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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