The Attorney-General, Simon Corbell MLA, has released a paper “Proposals for Regulatory Reform” to provide key stakeholders and the community with an opportunity to consider proposals for further legislative reform which have been suggested to streamline the Liquor Act 2010 and make it more effective.  These proposals were either identified in the two-year Review report or through subsequent representation from, or discussions with, stakeholders.

In addition to providing comments on the proposals in this paper, stakeholders and members of the community are welcome to identify other proposals for reform.

The paper represents the latest stage of the government’s consultation with…

Criminal infringement notice offences can be dealt with more expediently than going through the court process.  The Options Paper proposes seven additional offences for inclusion in the ACT’s Criminal Infringement Notice scheme. 

These offences include fighting, offensive behaviour and failure to obey a move-on direction by police, and new low level offences of damage property, minor theft or making off without payment, where the amount involved is $500 or less.

The paper also proposes to include level 2 drink driving offences for first time offenders.

Criminal Infringement Notices are designed as an alternative to court proceedings but do not operate…

The Attorney-General, Simon Corbell MLA, has released a Discussion Paper to provide the community and stakeholders with an opportunity to consider and provide their views on proposals for reform to the civil dispute jurisdiction and membership structure of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Comment on any aspect of the proposed changes is welcome, as well as specific comments responding to the questions posed by the paper.

The Discussion Paper is open for consultation until 20 February 2016. The community can provide feedback directly to the Justice and Community Safety Directorate at jacslpp@act.gov.au, or by writing to:…

Following extensive consultation, the Attorney-General, Simon Corbell MLA, has announced a new rights protection services model based on a restructured Human Rights Commission and a new consolidated Public Trustee and Guardian office.

The Government has decided to proceed with legislative amendments to introduce a new rights protection framework that will strengthen the leadership, governance, and coordination of the very important operations of these key rights protection services.

No funding will be taken away from these important services, no staff jobs are at risk and the proposed changes are not about finding savings.

The model will involve establishing the position of…

The ACT Government has released an information paper on double jeopardy reform to be progressed in the Territory. Double jeopardy refers to the common law rule that no person should be retried for an alleged crime for which they have previously been acquitted. That is, they should not be placed in a position of ‘jeopardy’ a second time. 

The information paper considers the five recommendations endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments in 2007 (Victoria and ACT reserved their position at the time) and proposes that the following recommendations be further considered for adoption in the Territory;

• retrials

The Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, has commenced a consultation process with justice system stakeholders about possible changes to the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1990 relating to the appointment criteria for the Director in section 22 of the Act.

Mr Corbell welcomes any feedback from interested parties on the following proposals:

a) that the term of the Director’s appointment be changed to a fixed 10 year term (currently it may be any term that is not more than seven years);

b) that the appointee not be eligible for reappointment for a further term  (currently, the operation of section…

The ACT Government has released a discussion paper on de novo appeals against sentences in the ACT. The discussion paper follows a recommendation from the Inquiry into Sentencing Report released earlier this year, that the ACT adopt de novo appeals against sentence to reflect the system in NSW.  A matter heard de novo is heard over again from the beginning, allowing the appeal court to 'stand in the shoes' of the original decision maker and make the decision again. 

The primary objective of such a change is to balance the need for timely resolution of criminal appeals with the need…

Outcome

Following extensive consultation, the Attorney-General, Simon Corbell MLA has announced that the ACT Government will prepare a Bill to provide a modern Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme, making it more widely available to victims and more user‑friendly for those applying for assistance.

Review Process

The Justice and Community Safety Directorate conducted a review into the operation of the scheme for the provision of financial assistance to victims of crime under the Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance) Act 1983.

The Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme has been in place since 1998 in its current form…

The purpose of the Crimes (Child Sex Offenders) Act 2005 (the Act) is to reduce the likelihood of convicted child sex offenders re-offending and to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of future offences that they may commit. This is to be achieved by requiring child sex offenders to keep police informed of their whereabouts and other personal details for a specific period of time.

The amendments also aim to prevent registrable child sex offenders from working in child related employment and prohibit registrable offenders from engaging in conduct that poses a risk to the lives or sexual safety of children.…

Pursuant to section 43 of the Human Rights Act 2004 (the HRA), the Justice and Community Safety Directorate has undertaken a review of the operation of the right to education in part 3A of the Human Rights Act 2004.  The review also examined a range of issues regarding the inclusion of other economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) in the Human Rights Act.

The terms of reference required that the review include consideration of whether—
(a)    other economic, social or cultural rights should be included in this Act; and
(b)    part 5A should apply to the economic, social and cultural…