NCJ Number
238715
Date Published
March 2012
Length
60 pages
Annotation
This monograph provides a comprehensive analysis of the offenders and offenses documented in 2010 to show the emerging sentencing patterns in the Court in New South Wales (NSW).
Abstract
The NSW Children's Court is a special protective jurisdiction with emphasis on the rehabilitation of the offender. This study focuses on compiling sentencing snapshots for the top 20 principal offenses and investigating the relationship between these offenses and particular offender characteristics. The sentencing outcomes show that magistrates in the Children's Court are generally giving effect to the statutory objectives found in the sentencing legislation drafted specifically for children. The sentencing patterns demonstrate the relative leniency of the jurisdiction and the strong emphasis on the rehabilitation of the offender. In 2010, 7,279 juvenile offenders were sentenced in the NSW Children's Court for a total of 17,496 offenses. The vast majority of offenders were given non-custodial penalties (90.1 percent). Good behavior bonds were used as the primary form of punishment with over a quarter of all offenders receiving bonds (28.5 percent). Probation orders (18.6 percent) and dismissals with or without a caution (14.8 percent) were the next most common penalties. Offenders who had previously served a term in custody recorded the highest rate of control orders (44.6 percent.) High rates of control orders were imposed for offenders sentenced for more than five offenses (28.3 percent) and where the maximum penalty for the principal offense was greater than 15 years and up to 20 years imprisonment (24.3 percent). Control orders were predominantly reserved for serious offenses such as armed robbery and aggravated break, enter, etc, and commit a serious indictable offense. Tables, figures, and appendixes