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Principles & Practice

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Part IB of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)

Table of Cases

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Last updated: 8 February 2008

List of subheadings:

Introduction
Layout of the Guide
Feedback

Introduction

The Commonwealth Sentencing 'Principles and Practice' has been developed primarily to assist judicial officers sentencing federal offenders navigate the provisions of Part IB of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth).

Part IB of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) provides a sentencing regime for federal offenders [1]. However Part IB is not a comprehensive scheme listing all the principles that may govern the sentencing of a convicted federal offender. Some sections in Part IB expressly pick up and apply the sentencing law of the State or Territory in which the federal offender is sentenced. Other aspects of sentencing are governed by common law as interpreted by the courts.

This guide refers to cases and other sources relevant to understanding Part IB, State and Territory law and the common law in so far as they relate to sentencing of a convicted federal offender.

Users can approach the guide in a number of ways:
by browsing the Index of Topics
by browsing the Table of Cases
by browsing the Index of Provisions in Part IB

Layout of the Guide

The Commonwealth Sentencing 'Principles and Practice' has been divided into eight broad sections:

1 Introduction to Part IB of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
2 General Sentencing Principles
3 Sentencing Options
4 Discounts and Remissions
5 Particular Issues in Sentencing
6 Categories of Federal Offenders
7 Ancillary Orders
8 Commonly Prosecuted Federal Offences

Key Features

Bold sentences are used throughout the guide to direct the user to key sentencing principles.

In this guide where a provision is cited on its own (for example, s 16A(2)) this is a reference to a provision of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth). References to provisions which are contained in other federal or State and Territory Acts are always fully referenced. Hyperlinks have been provided to online versions of the legislation rather than extracting the full provision in the commentary.

The cases in this guide are linked to publicly available databases such as Austlii and State and Territory Court websites. Therefore case citations in this guide are frequently to the medium neutral citation (in accordance with where the link directs the user) rather than the reported series. Note: Austlii frequently lists the reported citations for a case.

Each entry in the guide is contained on one continuous html page (which may equate to many printed pages) so that users may easily print off all the commentary for a particular issue. Where various provisions or principles interact, the commentary directs the user to other related and relevant entries in the guide. To assist with navigation within a page there is a list of hyperlinked subheadings at the beginning of each entry. A link is also provided to the [TOP] of each page following each part of the commentary.

Feedback

This guide was developed by the National Judicial College of Australia and the ANU College of Law in conjunction with the Judicial Commission of New South Wales. The commentary has been reviewed by a panel of academics from the ANU College of Law and by a panel of Judicial Officers.

We welcome feedback on the Commonwealth Sentencing "Practice and Principles". Comments and suggestions can be forwarded to John McGinness: ea@njca.anu.edu.au

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Footnotes

[1] Second reading speech on the introduction of the Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1989.