Reduction in penalties at sentence

In January 2008, the Attorney General asked us review the principles and practices governing reductions in sentence.

Report

We transmitted our Report: Reduction in Penalties at Sentence (PDF, 763.4 KB) to the Attorney General on 31 August 2009. It was released in November 2009.

The Government responded to our Report, on 27 November 2009, in a Media release: Moves to restrict sentence discounts for police informants and sex offenders (PDF, 33.6 KB).

Some recommendations in the Report were adopted by the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment Act 2010 (NSW).

Terms of Reference

We received the following terms of reference in January 2008:

Pursuant to s. 100J of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 the Sentencing Council is to examine discounts on sentence in accordance with the following terms of reference:

1. the current principles and practices governing reductions in sentence;

2. how factors leading to a discount on sentence are taken into account, particularly where several factors must be considered at the same time;

3. the application of the totality principle to offenders being sentenced for multiple offences;

4. the effect of charge negotiation; 

5. the use of a “Form 1” to deal with additional offences; and

6. any other relevant matter.

The review will not include the Criminal Case Conferencing trial, as this will be considered through a separate process.