Criminal Law Offences and sentencing options at the Local Courts of New South Wales

The NSW Local Courts in its criminal jurisdiction deal with two types of criminal offences:

1. Summary offences, and
2. Indictable offences dealt with summarily.

A summary offence is any offence that is not an indictable offence which usually carries a maximum penalty of up to two years imprisonment.

Indictable offences are serious criminal offences which can be dealt with summarily if they are listed in Tables 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW). For Table 1 offences, the prosecutor or the defendant can elect to have the matter dealt with on indictment whereas for Table 2 offences, only the prosecutor can elect to deal with the matter on indictment.

Strictly indictable offences are the most serious offences which start at the Local Courts but must be dealt with on indictment in higher Courts such as NSW District Court or the NSW Supreme Court.

First Mention

According to Criminal Lawyers Blacktown | AMA Legal at the first Court date for an offence, the defendant has the following three options:

1. Enter a plea of not guilty,
2. Enter a plea of guilty, or
3. Seek a short adjournment for legal advice.

If a plea of not guilty is entered to an offence which is a domestic violence offence, the matter is listed for a defended hearing and orders are made for services of the Police brief of evidence.

If a plea of not guilty is entered to an offence which is not a domestic violence offence, orders are made for service of the Police brief of evidence and the matter is listed for a reply mention.

If the plea of not guilty is maintained at the reply mention, the matter will then be listed for a defended hearing.

If a plea of guilty is entered to an offence at the first mention date, then the Local Court may proceed to sentence on the same date or adjourn the matter for sentence and order a sentencing assessment report.

Defended Hearing

When a matter proceeds to a defended hearing, it comes before a Magistrate at the Local Court who acts as an independent judicial officer and makes an impartial and transparent decision on whether the elements of the offence charged has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

In prosecution of criminal law offences, the onus (burden) is always on the prosecuting authority.

The Prosecution call evidence in support of the charges which can be challenged by the defence.

After the prosecution case is closed, the defence has the opportunity to present their case should they chose to do so. 

At the conclusion of all the evidence and submissions from the parties, the Court can:

1. Determine that a prima facie case has not been established and dismiss the charges,

• Determine that a prima facie case has been established but the evidence is not capable of satisfying the Court, beyond a reasonable doubt, that of all the elements of the offence have been proved.

According to Criminal Lawyers Blacktown | AMA Legal, if the Magistrate find that the elements of the offence have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, a verdict of guilty is entered and the matter proceeds to sentence.

Sentencing options under Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 are:

1. Dismissal without recording a conviction,
2. Discharging the offender under a Conditional Release Order (CRO) without conviction,
3. Discharging the offender on condition to participate in an intervention program,
4. Discharging the offender under Conditional Release Order with conviction,
5. Conviction with no other penalty,
6. Issuing a fine,
7. Community Correction Order (CCO),
8. Intensive Correction Order (ICO),
9. Full time imprisonment.

Criminal justice lawyers Blacktown, AMA Legal advice that the following table provides for the length of CROs, CCOs and ICOs and community service works:

	CRO	CCO	ICO
Maximum Length of the Order	2 years	3 Years	2 years for single offence 3 years for multiple offences
Maximum hours of Community Service	N/A	100 hours for offences punishable by 6 months jail 200 hours for offences punishable by 6 – 12 months jail 500 hours for offences punishable by more than 12 months jail	100 hours for offences punishable by 6 months jail 200 hours for offences punishable by 6 – 12 months jail 750 hours for offences punishable by more than 12 months jail

When charged with criminal offences, accused persons usually search for a criminal lawyer near me. Accused persons should be mindful of the following when considering retaining a lawyer:

• Whether the lawyer offers an initial consultation, 
• The lawyer’s experience with dealing with like matters,
• The lawyer’s fees,
• The lawyer’s availability,
• The lawyer’s expertise,
• The lawyer’s reputation.