South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts (1) The Full Court may
give a judgment establishing sentencing guidelines.
(2) A sentencing
guideline is to guide a sentencing court in determining sentence for—
(a)
offences generally or a particular class of offences;
(b)
offenders generally or a particular class of offenders.
(3) A sentencing
guideline may—
(a)
indicate an appropriate range of penalties for a particular offence or
offences of a particular class; and
(b)
indicate how particular aggravating or mitigating factors (or aggravating or
mitigating factors of a particular kind) should be reflected in sentence.
(4) In particular, a
sentencing guideline may indicate (and give guidance about the extent of) a
reduction of sentence below the level that would otherwise be appropriate in
any of the following cases:
(a)
where the defendant has co-operated with authorities in the investigation of
an offence;
(b)
where the defendant has pleaded guilty to the charge;
(c)
where the defendant has contributed in some other way to reducing the burden
on the criminal justice system or the burden of crime on the community.
(5) A sentencing
court—
(a)
should have regard to relevant sentencing guidelines; but
(b) is
not bound to follow a particular guideline if, in the circumstances of the
case, there are good reasons for not doing so.