Standard non-parole periods and guideline judgments

On 30 March 2009 the Attorney General asked us to consider issues surrounding potential standard non-parole periods and guideline judgments for sexual and other offences.

On 23 September 2011, the Attorney General asked the NSW Law Reform Commission (LRC) to review the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) and to work in collaboration with the Sentencing Council.

Report

In November 2011, we published our ​​​​Background report (PDF, 724.7 KB) (PDF, 724.7 KB) to assist in the LRC's review. Further information about the LRC review is available on the LRC's website.

Terms of reference

We received the following terms of reference on 30 March 2009:

Pursuant to s100J(1)(d) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 I refer the following issues to the Sentencing Council for consideration and report. That the Sentencing Council:

1. Monitor the rates of offending and sentencing patterns for sexual offences not contained in the Table of Standard Non-parole Periods (SNPP), with a view to their possible inclusion in the Table at a later date;

2. Give consideration to standardising the SNPPs for sexual (and other) offences within a band of 40-60% of the available maximum penalty, subject to the possibility of individual exceptions, by reference to an assessment of the incidence of offending and special considerations relating thereto;

3. Consider potential additions to the SNPP scheme, involving the level or levels at which the SNPP might be appropriately set;

4. Give consideration to the establishment of a transparent mechanism by which a decision is made to include a particular offence in the Table, and by which the relevant SNPP is set; and

5. Consider the identification of sexual offences that might justify an application for a guideline judgment, following its ongoing monitoring of relevant sentencing patterns.