Sentences. |
After you have pleaded guilty, or have been found guilty at a trial, the next step is to be sentenced by the court. The type of sentence will depend on a wide range of factors taken into account by the Magistrate or Judge.
Whichever way you came before a court to be sentenced, our solicitor advocate, or a carefully selected Barrister, will present your story to the court to get the best possible sentence outcome. |
PLEADING GUILTY:You should be aware of all the charges and circumstances the police are alleging before pleading guilty at court. |
Pleading 'Guilty' means you are telling the court that you did do the offence you are accused of committing and will proceed to a sentence. Depending on whether the offending is a minor offence or a more serious indictable offence, there may be some procedural steps necessary before the plea and sentencing.
Before pleading guilty, you should be aware of all the charges, and you should know the circumstances of the offences being alleged by police. It is very difficult to reverse a plea if you later feel you shouldn't have. You should speak to an experienced criminal lawyer about the considerations, advantages and disadvantages of pleading guilty. |
BEING FOUND GUILTY AT TRIAL:You will be sentenced soon after the verdict is handed down. |
If you have contested the charges at a trial and a Magistrate or a Jury has found you guilty, you will be sentenced very soon after the verdict is handed down.
In most cases, you will be sentenced the same day, however it may be delayed for various reasons such as obtaining pre-sentence psychology reports. In such a case where a prison sentence is likely, your bail may be revoked. |
PREPARING FOR SENTENCE:Your lawyer will assist you to prepare for sentence, even if you're going to trial. |
Your lawyer will prepare you for sentence by ensuring you know the charges and collecting important information about you to present to the Magistrate or Judge. This will happen even if you are taking your matter to trial.
You may be asked to organise Court Character References from prominent people you know, such as your employer, church minister, teacher or coach. These references must be written in a specific way so you will be given a guide for them to use. For more serious offences, your lawyer may want to organise a pre-sentencing report from a registered psychologist or psychiatrist. |
SENTENCING OUTCOMES:The Magistrate or Judge will listen to the prosecutor and your lawyer about what penalty is appropriate. |
When deciding a sentence, the Magistrate or Judge considers several factors, including:
The Magistrate or Judge will also listen to submissions made by the prosecutor and your lawyer about what penalty is appropriate in all the circumstances. An important role for your lawyer is to present your story to the court, and similar cases about what has been imposed previously so that the Magistrate or Judge has a reference point for their decision. Good Behaviour Bond. A good behaviour bond is a type of court-imposed order that requires an offender to be of good behaviour (i.e. not breaking the law) for a specified period. Often, a sum of money as security is imposed if the offender commits another offence within the time specified. Fines. A fine can be in addition to, or instead of any other sentence that could be imposed. Offences have a maximum amount that can be imposed for a fine, usually described in penalty units. As of 1 July 2024, one penalty unit is valued at $161.30, so an offence with a maximum of 10 penalty units will allow a Magistrate of Judge to impose a fine up to $1613.oo Probation. Probation is a community based order that is an alternative to a prison sentence. You will have to report regularly to a probation office and comply with a number of other conditions such as:
The court will only impose a probation order if you agree to the conditions that you may be subject to and the time specified by the Magistrate or Judge. If you do not agree, then another sentence option can be considered. The court can give a community service order with or without recording a conviction. If you breach your probation order by not complying with the conditions, you may be re-sentenced. Community Service. A Community Service Order is a sentence where you must complete between 40 and 240 hours of unpaid community service, usually within 12 months, as well as agree to follow other conditions. The court will only impose a community service order if you agree to the conditions. If you do not agree, then another sentence option can be considered. For some offences, a community service order is mandatory for a set period and the court will not need your consent to make the order. The court can give a community service order with or without recording a conviction. If you breach your community service order by not complying with the conditions, you may be re-sentenced. Intensive Corrections Order. If a person is given a prison sentence of 1 year or less, the court can give them an intensive correction order. They will serve this sentence in the community being closely supervised by a corrective services officer. In that time, the person is not allowed to break the law, and has to follow certain conditions, such as going to counselling or doing community service. If they don’t follow these conditions, the court can send the person to prison for the rest of their sentence. Suspended Imprisonment Sentence. If a person is given a prison sentence of 5 years or less, a court can suspend the entire sentence straight away or after they have spent some time in prison. The court sets the period of time for which the sentence is suspended. If the person commits an offence for which they could be sentenced to prison again during this time, a court can order them to serve all or part of their sentence in prison instead in addition to any other sentence they get for the new offence. Period of Imprisonment. Sentencing a person to prison is the most severe sentence a court can order. The offender is taken into custody to a prison for a period of time depending on parole or other sentence conditions. A prison sentence may also be partially suspended after a period of time in custody. Usually after the person has served some time in prison, they will be released into the community on parole until their sentence ends. The aim of parole is to help a person get used to living back in the community to decrease their chances of reoffending. If the person has committed more than one offence, the court can sentence the person to more than one prison sentence which can be concurrent (at the same time), or cumulative (one after another). If a period of imprisonment is a possibility, your lawyer will provide you with information to prepare. |
RECORDING A CONVICTION:The results of your sentence are entered onto your criminal record, but may be listed as "Conviction Not Recorded". |
If a court chooses to not record a conviction, the person has still broken the law and been convicted of committing an offence. The difference here, though, is that it will appear on a person’s criminal history as having ‘no conviction recorded’, which may sometimes mean they do not have to tell people about their criminal history.
A court must decide in some cases whether to record a conviction when the person is sentenced because it will appear on a person’s criminal history. This can affect a person’s life in the future, for example, by making it more difficult to get a certain type of job or being able to travel to different countries. Because of this, a court will consider things such as a person’s age, any offending they’ve done in the past, what offence they committed before recording a conviction and whether recording a conviction is likely to have a negative impact on the person’s wellbeing, standing in the community, and their chances of finding a job. A court must record a conviction for certain types of sentences, including prison sentences. |
