CRIMES (TORTURE) ACT 1988 No. 148 of 1988 - SECT 10 Alternative verdicts

CRIMES (TORTURE) ACT 1988 No. 148 of 1988 - SECT 10

10. (1) Where:

   (a)  a person is charged with an offence against this Act;

   (b)  the offence is alleged to be an act that, under the law in force in a
part of Australia at the time (in this subsection called the "relevant time")
when the act was alleged to have been done, would have constituted an offence
of a particular kind if it had been done in that part of Australia at the
relevant time;

   (c)  on the person's trial for the offence, the jury:

        (i)    is not satisfied that the person is guilty of the offence
               charged; and

        (ii)   is satisfied that the person is guilty of a different offence
against this Act (in this section called the "alternative offence") because
the person has done an act that, under the law in force in that part of
Australia at the relevant time, would, if it had been done in that part of
Australia at that time, have constituted an offence (in this section called
the "local offence found to have been proved") of a kind different from the
kind of offence referred to in paragraph (b); and

   (d)  by virtue of the law in force in that part of Australia at the
        relevant time or at the time of the trial, a person charged with an
        offence of the kind referred to in paragraph (b) could in certain
        circumstances be found not guilty of the last-mentioned offence but
        guilty of an offence of the kind referred to in subparagraph (c) (ii);
        the jury may find the person not guilty of the offence charged but
        guilty of the alternative offence.

(2) If the jury finds the person guilty of an offence under this Act in the
circumstances referred to in subsection (1), it shall, when returning its
verdict, tell the judge that it is satisfied as mentioned in subparagraph (1)
(c) (ii) and specify to the judge the kind of local offence found to have been
proved.