Local Court Bench Book — Specific Penalties and Orders

This table of maximum penalties is populated using Lawcodes data. For more information, see Changes to Specific Penalties and Orders at the end of the introduction.

Jurisdiction

Section 97(1): Proceedings for an offence under the Act or regulations, other than an offence for which the maximum penalty on indictment is specified, are to be dealt with summarily before the Local Court.

Section 97(2): Ch 5 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 applies to an offence under the Act for which a maximum penalty on indictment is specified.

Section 97(3): This section does not apply to proceedings for an offence under the Act for fail to appear.

(Fail to appear offences are dealt with separately in ss 79 and 80: see below.)

Penalty for failure to appear

Section 79(1): A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to appear in accordance with a bail acknowledgment is guilty of an offence.

Section 79(2): Onus is on the person granted bail to prove reasonable excuse.

Section 79(3): The maximum penalty for an offence against s 79 is the maximum penalty for the offence for which bail was granted.

Section 79(4): A penalty of imprisonment for a fail to appear offence is not to exceed 3 years and monetary penalty for an offence against this section is not to exceed 30 penalty units.

Procedure for fail to appear offence

Section 80(1): Proceedings may be commenced at any time.

Section 80(2): Proceedings to be dealt with summarily by the court dealing with the offence for which the person failed to appear, or, in any case, by the Local Court.

Show cause requirement

Section 16A: A bail authority making a bail decision for a “show cause” offence must refuse bail unless the accused person shows cause why his or her detention is not justified.

Section 16B: The section identifies the offences to which the show cause requirement applies, including any “serious indictable offence” under Pt 3 or 3A Crimes Act 1900 or the Firearms Act 1996, or a serious indictable offence alleged to be committed while the accused person is on bail or on parole. In cases where an accused is on bail or parole, that can include bail or parole granted in a jurisdiction other than NSW. “Serious indictable offence” has the same meaning as in the Crimes Act 1900, ie, an indictable offence that is punishable by imprisonment for life or for a term of 5 years or more (s 4(1)).