MONOGRAPH 40 volume 1

72 Transparent and consistent sentencing in the Land and Environment Court of NSW: orders for costs as an aspect of punishment Judicial Commission of NSW Objective and subjective factors Class of offender Total Corporation Individual Special liability offender Small business owner “Ordinary Joe” Objective seriousness High N 13 13 8 4 38 % 5.2 25.0 16.0 20.0 10.2 Medium N 107 12 18 8 145 % 42.5 23.1 36.0 40.0 38.8 Low N 132 27 24 8 191 % 52.4 51.9 48.0 40.0 51.1 Environmental harm Serious N 24 8 13 3 48 % 9.5 15.4 26.0 15.0 12.8 Medium N 45 8 14 6 73 % 17.9 15.4 28.0 30.0 19.5 Low N 116 14 11 7 148 % 46.0 26.9 22.0 35.0 39.6 None N 67 22 12 4 105 % 26.6 42.3 24.0 20.0 28.1 State of mind Intentional N 30 16 21 11 78 % 11.9 30.8 42.0 55.0 20.9 Negligence N 84 17 15 5 121 % 33.3 32.7 30.0 25.0 32.4 Recklessness N 38 5 4 1 48 % 15.1 9.6 8.0 5.0 12.8 Financial advantage (Yes) N 40 20 28 8 96 % 15.9 38.5 56.0 40.0 25.7 Foreseeability of harm (Yes) N 220 32 40 13 305 % 87.3 61.5 80.0 65.0 81.6 Practical measures taken (Yes) N 127 16 17 9 169 % 50.4 30.8 34.0 45.0 45.2 Control over causes (Yes) N 211 33 42 13 299 % 83.7 63.5 84.0 65.0 79.9 Prior record (Yes) N 87 9 4 3 103 % 34.5 17.3 8.0 15.0 27.5 Prior good character (Yes) N 153 32 36 16 237 % 60.7 61.5 72.0 80.0 63.4 Not guilty plea N 15 5 5 1 26 % 6.0 9.6 10.0 5.0 7.0 Contrition and remorse (Yes) N 213 35 31 15 294 % 84.5 67.3 62.0 75.0 78.6 Cooperation (Yes) N 221 39 35 16 311 % 87.7 75.0 70.0 80.0 83.2 Costs awarded (Yes) N 247 42 50 18 357 % 98.0 80.8 100.0 90.0 95.5 Means to pay (Yes) N 36 21 22 15 94 % 14.3 40.4 44.0 75.0 25.1 Totality principle applied (Yes) N 50 15 13 10 88 % 19.8 28.8 26.0 50.0 23.5 All LEC offences N 252 52 50 20 374 % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Table 10: Environmental protection offences in the LEC: objective and subjective factors by Class of Offender — 2000 to 2015 (principal offence only) Note: Percentages reflect the observed proportion of the relevant total sample. For example, with regard to “Objective seriousness”, 5.2% (13 of 252) of primary offences committed by corporations were assessed by the LEC as being of “High” objective seriousness.