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Explanatory note
This explanatory note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on a day to
be appointed by proclamation.
Clause 3 gives effect to the Schedule of amendments to the Crimes Act
1900.
Schedule 1
Amendments
Mandatory life sentences for certain offences
Schedule 1 amends the Crimes Act 1900 to achieve the object of this Bill.
By section 43 1 A of the Crimes Act 1900 the punishment of penal servitude
for the term of a person's natural life may be imposed only for the offence of
murder and certain offences under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985
involving large commercial quantities of prohibited drugs or prohibited
plants (but not cannabis plant or cannabis leaf). Section 431B is being
inserted into the Crimes Act 1900 to specify the circumstances that, if
satisfied, will result in the imposition of that punishment.
In the case of murder, a life sentence is to be imposed if "the level of
culpability in the commission of the offence is so extreme that the
community interest in retribution, punishment, community protection and
deterrence can only be met through the imposition of that sentence".
In the case of the drug offences involving large commercial quantities of
heroin or cocaine, a life sentence is to be imposed if the level of culpability in
the commission of the offence is so extreme that the community interest in
retribution, punishment, community protection and deterrence can only be
met through the imposition of that sentence and:
*
the offence involved a high degree of planning and organisation and
the use of other people acting at the direction of the person convicted
of the offence, and
*
the defendant was solely or principally responsible for planning,
organising and financing the offence, and
*
the heroin or cocaine was of a high degree of purity, and
*
the defendant committed the offence solely for financial reward.
Explanatory note page 2
The court's discretion under section 442 of the Crimes Act 1900 to consider
the imposition of a lesser punishment is not affected in the case of murder but
that discretion, as well as a corresponding discretion under section 33A (2) of
the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985, are displaced in the case of the
drug offences if the requisite criteria are established.
The enumeration, in subsection (2) of the proposed section, of the
circumstances in which a court is to impose a life sentence on a person
convicted of a drug offence involving large commercial quantities of heroin
or cocaine is not intended to limit the imposition of the sentence to those
circumstances.
The proposed section will not apply to persons who were under 18 years of
age when the offences were committed.
The proposed section will not apply to offences committed before the section
commences.
Explanatory note page 3