monograph2002 series 21 Sentencing dangerous drivers in New South Wales impact of the Jurisic guidelines on sentencing practice Judicial Commission of New South Wales Sentencing dangerous drivers in New South Wales impact of the Jurisic guidelines on sentencing practice Lynne A Barnes Senior Research Officer (Legal) Patrizia Poletti Senior Research Officer (Special Projects) Ivan Potas Director (Research & Sentencing) Judicial Commission of New South Wales Published in Sydney by — Judicial Commission of New South Wales Level 5, 301 George Street Sydney NSW 2000 GPO Box 3634 Sydney NSW 2001 Printed July 2002 ISBN 0 7313 5602 0 © Judicial Commission of New South Wales 2002 This publication is copyright. Other than for the purposes of, and subject to the conditions prescribed under, the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of it may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publisher. The views expressed in this monograph are the views of the individual authors and do not represent any official views of the Judicial Commission of New South Wales, nor are they necessarily shared by the members of the staff of the Commission. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of this publication, no liability is assumed for any errors or omissions. Editing — Ruth Sheard Design and production — Ruth Sheard Cover photography — Gary Graham: Newspix; PhotoDisc Printers — Bloxham & Chambers Lithographic Printers Contents List of tables & figures ............................................................................................................... iv Cases cited .................................................................................................................................... v Legislation cited .......................................................................................................................... vi Summary ...................................................................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Aims of the study .......................................................................................................................2 2 The offence ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Background ...................................................................................................................................3 2.2 Current legislation .....................................................................................................................4 2.3 Relevant case law ........................................................................................................................6 2.3.1 The guideline judgment in Jurisic ........................................................................8 2.4 The High Court ....................................................................................................................... 10 3 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 13 3.1 The meaning of consistency in sentencing ................................................................. 13 3.2 Time frame and data .............................................................................................................. 14 3.3 Statistical tests ........................................................................................................................... 14 3.4 The research questions .......................................................................................................... 15 3.4.1 The first guideline ..................................................................................................... 15 3.4.2 The second guideline .............................................................................................. 15 3.4.3 Court of Criminal Appeal .................................................................................... 16 4 Analysis & findings ..................................................................................................... 17 4.1 The effect of Jurisic in terms of severity and consistency measured on severity of penalty type ............................................................................. 17 4.2 The effect of Jurisic in terms of severity and consistency measured by length of full time imprisonment ........................................................ 20 4.3 Analysis of the Court of Criminal Appeal decisions ............................................. 28 4.3.1 Crown appeals ............................................................................................................. 29 4.3.2 Sentence severity appeals ....................................................................................... 30 4.3.3 Exceptional cases ....................................................................................................... 31 4.4 Changes in the prison population after Jurisic ......................................................... 32 5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 33 Appendices A Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 52A and 52AA .............................................................. 35 B Table of CCA cases pre & post Jurisic .......................................................................... 39 Selected bibliography .............................................................................................................. 45 iv Impact of the Jurisic guidelines on sentencing practice List of tables & figures Tables 1 Characteristics of offenders sentenced under s 52A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic ............................................................................ 17 2 Trends in overall penalty types for offences under s 52A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic ............................................................................ 18 3 Trends in custodial penalties for offences under s 52A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) by subsection — pre and post Jurisic .............................................. 19 4 Severity and consistency of full time custody (head sentences and non-parole periods) for offences under s 52A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) by subsection — pre and post Jurisic .............................................. 21 5 CCA appeals under s 52A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic ........................................................................................................................................ 28 6 Sentenced inmates in full time custody for driving offences on 30 June: 1997–2001 ........................................................................................................................................................ 32 7 Dangerous driving causing death — Appeals against severity of sentence ....................... 39 8 Dangerous driving causing death — Crown appeals .................................................................. 40 9 Dangerous driving occasioning GBH — Appeals against severity of sentence .............. 42 10 Dangerous driving occasioning GBH — Crown appeals ......................................................... 44 Figures 1 Length of full time custody (head sentences and non-parole periods) under s 52A(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic .................................... 22 2 Length of full time custody (head sentences and non-parole periods) under s 52A(1)(c) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic .................................... 23 3 Length of full time custody (head sentences and non-parole periods) under s 52A(2) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic .......................................... 24 4 Length of full time custody (head sentences and non-parole periods) under s 52A(3)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic .................................... 25 5 Length of full time custody (head sentences and non-parole periods) under s 52A(3)(c) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic .................................... 26 6 Length of full time custody (head sentences and non-parole periods) under s 52A(4) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) — pre and post Jurisic .......................................... 27 Impact of the Jurisic guidelines on sentencing practice v Cases cited Coventry v The King (1938) 59 CLR 633 R v McDonald (unreported, 12 October 1998, DPP v Smith [1960] 3 All ER 161 NSWCCA) Everett v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 295 R v MacIntyre (1988) 38 A Crim R 135 R v Ashman (1858) 1 F&F 88; 175 ER 638 R v McKinney [1999] NSWCCA 51 R v B (unreported, 21 August 1990, NSWCCA) R v Mansour [1999] NSWCCA 180 R v Bailey [2001] NSWCCA 10 R v Marlin (unreported, 10 September 1997, R v Begbie [2001] NSWCCA 206 NSWCCA) R v Black (unreported, 23 July 1998, R v Menzies [1999] NSWCCA 222 NSWCCA) R v Milsom (unreported, 10 December 1997, R v Boswell (1984) 79 Cr App R 277 NSWCCA) R v Burnett (1996) 85 A Crim R 76 R v Murnin (unreported, 16 August 1985, R v Byrne (1998) 104 A Crim R 456 NSWCCA) R v Davies (unreported,