NCJ Number
139939
Journal
Current Issues in Criminal Justice Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: special issue (March 1992) Pages: 287-297
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The Sentencing Act of 1989 in New South Wales introduces a new sentencing system that abolishes remissions and establishes minimum terms to be served.
Abstract
The Act changes the court's approach to sentencing by requiring it to set a minimum term of imprisonment that a person must serve for an offense and to set an additional term during which a person may be released on parole. The additional term must not exceed one-third of the minimum term, unless the court decides there are special circumstances. If the court sets an additional term that exceeds one-third of the minimum term, it must state the reason for that decision. Minimum and additional terms set for an offense comprise the term of sentence for the offense. The total sentence passed by the court must remain proportionate to an offender's criminality. The Act provides that a court may decline to set minimum and additional terms for an offense and instead may set a fixed imprisonment term. The offender is then required to serve the whole of that term and is not eligible for parole. The Act requires the sentencing court to specify the day on which an imprisonment term begins and the day on which an offender will be released on parole or released outright. Further, the Act replaces the Parole Board with the Offenders Review Board, contains provisions applicable to children, covers remissions and prison discipline, and has provisions related to cumulative and life sentences. 30 footnotes