The New South Wales Attorney General, Greg Smith SC, has proposed legislation creating a presumption to allow the broadcast of sentencing in criminal trials. The Attorney General suggests that the exceptions to the presumption would be clearly defined, for example, filming would not be appropriate if it revealed the identity of jurors, or protected witnesses or would put the safety or security of someone at risk.
The proposed legislation is aimed at "demystifying" the court process and supports the principles of open justice in maintaining public confidence in the integrity and independence of courts.
However, there are concerns that media coverage inside a courtroom may affect the participants of a trial and may place hearings at a substantial prejudice, if for example the case is a high profile one.
These are issues which will no doubt be raised by stakeholders when the Attorney General seeks comment and consultation about the proposed legislation.
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In the media
Media to be granted court access
The government is considering new legislation to allow the media
to broadcast sentencing proceedings in criminal trials. Under the
proposal, final court proceedings; such as verdicts and sentences
in criminal cases, will be filmed and broadcasted on television
– except in specific circumstances (26 March 2014). More...
Inaugural NSW Information Commissioner to step
down
After three years as the inaugural NSW Information Commissioner,
Deirdre O 'Donnell has announced she will be leaving her role
on Friday 24 May 2013. The Department of Attorney General and
Justice has commenced action to recruit a new Commissioner (26
March 2014).
More...
Invoice Payment in the NSW Public Sector
The NSW ICAC is conducting research on managing corruption risks
associated with the processing of supplier invoices. A range of
public sector organisations in NSW are being approached to obtain
their views on the corruption risks and controls that they have in
place in relation to this function (25 March 2014) Survey on how
agencies process supplier invoices
Mandatory sentencing - a change for the
better
Amendments to mandatory sentencing legislation passed in the
Legislative Council last night represent an improvement on the
government's bill, according to the president of the NSW Bar
Association. The NSW Government's Bill proposed mandatory
minimum sentences between three to five years for a range of
offences (20 March 2014).
More...
Lawyers welcome amendments to introduce judicial safety
net for mandatory sentencing
The Law Society of NSW is calling on Parliament to support an
Opposition amendment to mandatory sentencing laws being debated in
the Upper House that will keep some judicial discretion in the
sentencing process. The amendments will also preserve an incentive
to plead guilty, saving unnecessary and expensive trials and
further trauma to victims (19 March 2014). More...
Labor introduces legislation to make Victim Impact
Statements a mandatory consideration
NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson has introduced legislation to
the NSW Parliament to make it compulsory for courts to take into
account Victim Impact Statements when sentencing criminals for
violent offences, including homicide (20 March 2014)
More... Ministers Second reading speech
More...
Attorney General's appeal succeeds in
NSW
The Attorney General has been successful in an appeal in the case
of R v CMB - an offender who received good behaviour bonds after
being convicted of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated
indecent assault against his daughter. The offender was taken into
custody after being resentenced to a maximum 5 and a half year
sentence, with a non-parole period of three years (19 March 2014)
More...
In practice and courts
NSW Law Reform Commission: Criminal Appeals: Transmittal
of Report 140
The final report in our
criminal appeals reference was transmitted to the Attorney
General on 25 March 2014. It will be available on our website once
it has been tabled in Parliament.
Judicial Commission of NSW: Sentencing Bench Book:
Release 26
Obligations of the parties The chapter on "The
prosecutor" at [1-200] has been amended to include Barbaro v
The Queen (2014) 88 ALJR 372 which sets out the role of the
prosecutor at sentence; changes to Victims and victim impact
statements and Assault, wounding and related offences (25 March
2014).
More...
Published – articles, papers, reports
Liquor licensing restrictions to address alcohol-related
violence in NSW
Author: NSW Parliamentary Research Service e-brief 4/2014: 18
March 2014
This e-brief outlines the main liquor licensing restrictions that
have been introduced since 2008. It also refers to studies that
have been done on the effectiveness of certain restrictions, and it
examines trends in alcohol-related assaults
More...
Cases
The Owners - Strata Plan No. 70030 v Decon Australia Pty
Ltd [2014] NSWSC 347
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - judicial review - construction of Home
Building Act 1989, s 48K - jurisdiction of Consumer, Trader and
Tenancy Tribunal - whether plaintiff was denied procedural fairness
- whether Tribunal had jurisdiction to deal with claim for an
amount exceeding $500,000 - whether Tribunal fell into
jurisdictional error in dismissing proceedings without considering
challenge to its jurisdiction or the plaintiff's application
for transfer of proceedings to Supreme Court - jurisdictional error
established - whether discretion to refuse relied should be
exercised More...
Bobolas v Waverley Council [2014] NSWCA
78
Notice of motion dismissed with costs.
APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL - appeal - general principles - interference
with discretion of the court
PROCEDURE - Court of Appeal procedure – stays- removal of
waste
PROCEDURE - Court of Appeal procedure - interlocutory
injunctions
PROCEDURE - courts and judges generally - judges - allegations of
bias
PROCEDURE - courts and judges generally - judges - natural justice
or procedural fairness in ex parte hearing Land and Environment
Court Act 1979 More...
James Fordham v Dewsash Pty Ltd t/as SP & W Hobson
[2014] NSWCATCD 1
This matter was determined by the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy
Tribunal when the CTTT Act and the CTTT Regulation were in force.
The Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal was abolished as of 1
January 2014 and the CTTT Act and Regulation were repealed. As the
issue of costs was not determined at the time the substantive
issues were decided, the proceedings are incomplete. More...
Legislation
New South Wales
Proclamations commencing Acts
Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Assault and Intoxication) Act 2014 No 2 (2014-141) — published LW 28 March 2014
Regulations and other miscellaneous instruments
Administrative Arrangements (Administration of Acts—Amendment
No 1) Order 2014 (2014-142) — published LW 28 March
2014
This order allocates the administration of the Acts listed in
Schedule 1, to Ministers allocated to that Schedule.
Criminal Procedure Amendment (Forum Sentencing Intervention
Program) Regulation 2014 (2014-143) — published LW 28
March 2014
The object of this Regulation is to make changes to the program of
measures for dealing with offenders known as the forum sentencing
intervention program.
Local Court Rules (Amendment No 5) 2014 (2014-144) — published LW 28 March 2014 The object of these Rules is to amend the Local Court Rules 2009 to:
- provide for electronic case management in criminal and application proceedings;
- provide for the appointment and removal of solicitors by parties to criminal and application proceedings; and
- revise terminology relating to the service of documents on inmates of correctional centres.
Privacy and Personal Information Protection Amendment (Inspector of
Custodial Services) Regulation 2014 (2014-126) —
published LW 21 March 2014
This Regulation aims to prescribe the Inspector of Custodial
Services, under the Inspector of Custodial Services Act
2012 as an investigative agency for the purposes of the
Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
Bills Introduced - Government
Drug Court Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 - 28 March
2014
This Bill amends the Drug Court Act 1998, and the
Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999, to give
effect to certain recommendations made by the Minister for Justice
in a May 2013 review called Review of the Compulsory Drug
Treatment Program and the Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional
Centre pursuant to the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act
1999.
Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament
Child Protection Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 – 28
March 2014
This Bill aims to make changes relating to the protection of
children and young people, intending to promote good parenting and
increase parental responsibility for children and young people,
achieve greater permanency for children and young people in out of
home care, modernise and create a more responsive child focused
system and improve the transparency and accountability of child
protection services.
Non-Government
Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment (Victim Impact Statements -
Mandatory Consideration) Bill 2014 – 21 March 2014
The object of this Bill is to amend theCrimes (Sentencing
Procedure) Act 1999, to require courts to receive and consider
victim impact statements and to provide for a giving of a victim
impact statement or a community impact statement to assist a court
in relation to sentencing.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.