Courts given greater say in sentences on appeal

02/09/2009

The New South Wales Government has introduced the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Amendment (Double Jeopardy) Bill 2009, which will withdraw the principle of 'double jeopardy' as it applies to sentencing in Crown appeals. Attorney General John Hatzistergos said: "This change will allow the higher courts to impose much tougher sentences on appeal when the court has made an appealable error".�

The object of the Bill, as provided by the explanatory notes, is to amend the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001: (a) to enable a person acquitted of a serious offence in a retrial under the exception to the rule against double jeopardy to be again retried if the acquittal was tainted because of an administration of justice offence, and (b) to provide that an appeal court must not dismiss a prosecution appeal against sentence, or impose a less severe sentence than it would otherwise consider appropriate, because of any element of double jeopardy involved in the respondent being sentenced again.

**2 September 2009 **