Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts(1) If an offender accepts responsibility for the commission of an offence to take part in restorative justice, this Act does not prevent the offender from pleading not guilty for the offence.
(2) The fact that a court knows that an offender has accepted responsibility for the commission of an offence to take part in restorative justice does not require a court to reduce the severity of any sentence it may make for the offender.
Note 1 To be eligible take part in restorative justice, an offender must accept responsibility for the commission of the offence (see s 19).
Note 2 The Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 , section 33 (1) (x) provides that, in deciding how an offender should be sentenced (if at all) for an offence, the matters known to the court that it must consider include, if relevant, the fact that the person has accepted responsibility for the offence to take part in restorative justice.
However, the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 , section 34 (1) (g)
provides that a court must not increase the severity of the sentence that it
would otherwise impose on a person for an offence because the offender has
chosen not to take part, or to continue to take part, in restorative justice
for the offence.