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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
SENTENCING AMENDMENT (VIOLENT OFFENCES) BILL 2008
Serial 4
Sentencing
Amendment (Violent Offences) Bill 2008
Mr
Mills
A Bill for an Act to amend the
Sentencing Act
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF
AUSTRALIA
Sentencing Amendment (Violent
offences) ACT 2008
____________________
Act No. [ ] of
2008
____________________
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
NORTHERN
TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
____________________
Act No. [ ] of
2008
____________________
An Act to amend the Sentencing
Act
[Assented to [ ]
2008]
[Second reading [ ]
2008]
The Legislative Assembly of the Northern
Territory enacts as follows:
This Act may be cited as the Sentencing Amendment
(Violent Offences) Act 2008.
This Act amends the Sentencing
Act.
Repeal and substitution of section
78BA
Section 78BA
repeal, substitute
78BA Imprisonment for
violent offences
(1) This section applies to a person who is found
by a court to be guilty of a violent offence (the current offence)
if:
(a) the person has been found guilty of a previous
violent offence; or
(b) the person:
(i) is an adult who has not been found guilty of a
previous violent offence; and
(ii) has caused serious harm when committing the
current offence.
(2) The court must:
(a) record a conviction; and
(b) sentence the person to a term of
imprisonment.
(3) The court:
(a) must not suspend any part of the sentence for
the current offence if the person has, within 10 years before committing the
current offence, been found guilty of a previous violent offence;
and
(b) otherwise – may suspend the
sentence in part (but not wholly).
(4) The sentence must include a minimum term of
actual imprisonment as follows:
(a) 12 months – if the
person:
(i) is an adult who has been found guilty of a
previous violent offence; and
(ii) has caused serious harm when committing the
current offence;
(b) 6 months – if the person:
(i) is an adult who has not been found guilty of a
previous violent offence; and
(ii) has caused serious harm when committing the
current offence;
(c) 3 months if:
(i) the person is an adult who has been found guilty
of a previous violent offence; and
(ii) paragraph (a) does not apply;
and
(iii) there are aggravating factors in relation to
the commission of the current offence (see sections 5(2)(f) and
6A);
(d) 1 month if:
(i) the person is an adult who has been found guilty
of a previous violent offence; and
(ii) neither paragraph (a) nor (c) apply;
and
(iii) the person has caused harm when committing the
current offence.
(5) In any other cases, the term of actual
imprisonment is to be a period decided by the court.
(6) If a court finds a person guilty of more than 1
violent offence, the court may count them as a single offence for this section
if the court considers they were part of the same incident, having regard
to:
(a) when and where the offences were committed;
and
(b) any other circumstances the court considers
relevant.
Example
A person is found guilty of assaulting 2 people
and causing serious harm to them. If the court considers the assaults occurred
as part of the same incident, and the person has not previously been found
guilty of a previous violent offence, the court may apply subsection (4)(b)
rather than subsection (4)(a) when sentencing the
person.
(7) The person is taken to have been found guilty
of a previous violent offence:
(a) only if the person:
(i) committed the previous violent offence as an
adult; or
(ii) was sentenced for the previous violent offence
by the Supreme Court; and
(b) whether a court found the person guilty of the
previous violent offence before, on or after the commencement of this
section.
(8) This section does not affect the power of the
court to make additional orders in relation to sentencing the person for the
current offence under this or another Act.
(9) In this section:
harm, see section 1A of the Criminal
Code.
previous violent offence means any of
the following:
(a) a violent offence;
(b) an offence substantially corresponding to a
violent offence against a law, or a repealed law, of the Territory or another
jurisdiction (including a jurisdiction outside Australia).
serious harm, see section 1 of the
Criminal Code.
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