Key updates include:

Sentencing – relevant factors – Age – Young offenders – Young offenders under 18 committing adult offences

In KT v The Queen (2008) 182 A Crim R 571; [2008] NSWCCA 51, McClellan CJ at CL said at [22]-[26] that the phrase “conducted him or herself in the way an adult might” has had a long history in NSW and has been used while sentencing young offenders to explain that the court has moderated the emphasis on rehabilitation in favour of deterrence and retribution. However, that emphasis has been challenged in cases in which it has been held that the child’s circumstances, and not just the gravity of the offence, should determine the sentence. 
In Carr v The King [2024] NSWCCA 103, the court held that the offender’s moral culpability was reduced by reason of his age and deprived upbringing, and therefore placed less weight on deterrence and retribution. See [27.160]. 

Hearings – Contempt and other offences in court – Contempt of court

Where a person brings an application to the court for a warrant to arrest someone for contempt, strict compliance with the legislation is required: Mohareb v Office of the DPP NSW [2024] NSWCA 93. See [18.2300]. 

Hearings – role of judges and magistrates – Role of the judge or magistrate in hearings – Who decides a claim of judicial bias

All members of a multi-judge bench should determine an application that one of their number should disqualify themselves for bias: QYFM v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (2023) 97 ALJR 419; 409 ALR 65; [2023] HCA 15. This two-part process – consideration first by the individual judge and then the Bench as a whole – “should not be thought to place an undue strain on judicial collegiality” (at [31]). See [22.265]. 

A more detailed summary of this release is available at [S24.30].

Criminal Procedure (NSW) provides in-depth practical and procedural knowledge on how to approach your criminal case in New South Wales, from the moment of arrest to appealing a sentence decision (including remedies if no conviction results). Topics discussed in the service are: arrest, charging, bail, detention and questioning, search warrants, telephone interception and surveillance devices, pre- and post-arrest directions and searches, identification material, taking and using body samples, body cavity searches, mentally ill / intellectually disabled persons, summary procedure, committal procedure, pre-hearing procedure, hearings (conduct of defence / conduct of prosecution / witnesses / role of judges and magistrates / jury and verdicts), sentencing and appeals.

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