On 20 June 2012, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, the Hon Jarrod Bleijie MP, introduced the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 (Qld) and the Criminal (Two Strike Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill 2012 (Qld) which, among other things, amend existing laws to increase jail time for murderers, perpetrators of serious assaults on police and repeat child sex offenders.
This legislation is in line with the LNP’s 2012 election campaign policies to apply tougher sentences for serious offenders and protect children. Key elements of these policies included:
- increasing the non-parole period for murder from 15 to 20 years imprisonment;
- introducing a new offence of murder of a police officer with a non-parole period of 25 years imprisonment;
- increasing the non-parole period for multiple murders from 20 to 30 years imprisonment; and
- increasing the maximum penalty for a serious assault on a police officer from 7 to 14 years; and
- introducing a “two strikes” policy for repeat child sex offenders.
The Attorney-General has stated that “[t]hese tough new penalties send a clear and strong message that these offences simply won’t be tolerated”. In response, the President of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties, Mr Terry O’Gorman has commented that “the changes would prevent a judge or magistrate from sentencing on the peculiar facts of each case and would cause injustice”.
Overview of Proposed Amendments
Each of the two bills is discussed below by reference to key provisions and related material.
Increasing the non-parole period for murder from 15 to 20 years imprisonment
Currently in Queensland, under s 305(1) of the Criminal Code (Schedule 1 to the Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld)), the punishment for the crime of murder is either imprisonment for life, which can not be mitigated or varied, or an indefinite sentence under Part 10 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld).
The non-parole period for one conviction of murder is 15 years unless a later parole eligibility date is fixed under the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) (see Corrective Services Act 2006 (Qld), s 181(3) and (4)).
In September 2011, the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council (SAC), due to be formally abolished under clause 17 of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012, issued a report on “Minimum standard non-parole periods”. This report set out a number of recommendations for structuring a new standard non-parole period (SNPP) scheme in
The offence of murder was originally included in the Terms of Reference for the SAC review. A number of submissions considered the length of the parole period, if any, that should apply to murder. In its report, the SAC determined that murder need not be included in a new SNPP scheme for a number of reasons, including the fact that murder already carries an automatic mandatory minimum non-parole period of 15 years, or in the case of multiple murder convictions, 20 years (SNPP Final Report, p 83).
The LNP Government proposal to introduce legislation to increase the non-parole period for the crime of murder from 15 years to 20 years is given effect to in clause 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 (see also the Explanatory Notes at p 7). This increase would bring
This proposed change to the law is to apply prospectively to offenders who commit the offence of murder on, or after, the date upon which the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 commences (Explanatory Notes at p 4).
Introducing a new offence of murder of a police officer with a minimum non-parole period of 25 years imprisonment
The Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 also proposes to introduce a new offence for the murder of a police officer (see clause 3 of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012; Explanatory Notes at pp 5-6). These proposed amendments require the new offence to apply in one of the following prescribed circumstances:
- when the police officer was performing his or her duty and the person committing the offence knew or ought reasonably to have known that the victim was a police officer; or
- because the victim was a police officer; or
- because the offence is due to, or in retaliation for, actions of the police officer or any other police officer in the performance of their duty.
In NSW, the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) was amended in 2011 to include a new provision imposing a mandatory life sentence for the murder of a police officer (s 19B). This provision applies where:
- the murder was committed while the police officer was executing his or her duty, or as a consequence of, or in retaliation for, the police officer executing his or her duty; and
- the offender knew or ought reasonably to have known that the person killed was a police officer; and
- the offender intended to kill the police officer or was engaged in criminal activity that risked serious harm to police officers.
The proposed new offence in Queensland Australia
For example, in NSW, the sentencing laws provide for a standard non-parole period of 25 years imprisonment for a person convicted of murder where the victim is a police officer, emergency services worker, correctional officer, judicial officer, council law enforcement officer, health worker, teacher, community worker, or other public official (see item 1A of the Table to Division 1A of The Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act (NSW) 1999).
Also, in the
This proposed change to the law is to apply prospectively to offenders who commit the offence of murder of a police officer on, or after, the date upon which the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 commences (Explanatory Notes at p 4).
Increasing the non-parole period for multiple murders from 20 to 30 years imprisonment
The punishment of a person convicted of multiple murders is dealt with in s 305(2) of the Queensland Criminal Code. The current non-parole period for multiple murders is 20 years (Queensland Criminal Code, s 305(2) and Corrective Services Act 2006 (Qld), s 181(2)) unless a later parole eligibility date is fixed under the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) (Corrective Services Act 2006 (Qld), s 181(4)). Under the proposed amendments, the non-parole period for multiple murders will be extended from 20 to 30 years imprisonment (see clause 3 of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012; Explanatory Notes at p 5).
While the other changes under the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 discussed above apply prospectively to offenders who commit the offence of murder on, or after, the date upon which the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 commences, this proposed new multiple murder provision will have retrospective effect to the extent that only one offence must occur after commencement of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 (Explanatory Notes at p 4).
Another jurisdiction that provides special non-parole provisions for multiple convictions of murder is the
Increasing the maximum penalty for certain serious assaults on a police officer from 7 to 14 years
There are a number of specific provisions that currently relate to serious assaults on police officers and other persons carrying out their duties in the Queensland Criminal Code (s 340(1)(b)-(d), (2), (2A) and (2AA)). The current maximum penalty for each of these serious assaults is imprisonment for 7 years.
Under the proposed changes to s 340(1), the maximum penalty for serious assaults on police officers under s 340(1)(b) will increase from 7 to 14 years where:
- the offender bites or spits on the police officer or throws at, or in any way applies to, the police officer a bodily fluid or faeces; or
- the offender causes bodily harm to the police officer; or
- the offender is, or pretends to be, armed with a dangerous or offensive weapon or instrument.
In all other circumstances, a person convicted of serious assault of a police officer under s 340(1)(b) will be liable to a maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment (see clause 4 of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012; Explanatory Notes at p 6).
The rationale for these amendments is that there should be higher penalties for those who seriously assault the men and women of the police service whose professional responsibility is to protect the public from crime.
Section 340(2A) was inserted into the Criminal Code in 2006 (as discussed in an earlier Queensland Parliamentary Library publication) to provide that, for the purposes of s 340(1)(b), the circumstances in which a person assaults a police officer include, but are not limited to, biting, spitting on, or throwing bodily fluid or faeces at a police officer (italics added). Under the proposed new amendments, this non-exhaustive definition of the meaning of assault of a police officer set out under s 340(2A) is to be deleted.
While the amendments to 340(1) described above incorporate aspects of s 340(2A), the following changes should be noted:
- the proposed new language, “or in any way applies”, broadens the methods for how the bodily fluid or faeces may be used to assault a police officer; and
- the circumstances in which the increased maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment applies are limited to the three specified circumstances of assault listed in the new subsection (a) (i), (ii) and (iii) of the amendments, and not to assaults on a police officer generally.
At this stage, these provisions have not been extended to any other profession, although the Attorney General, the Hon Jarrod Bleijie, has indicated that he would also consider extending the new laws to cover assaults on other professions if there is a decline in serious assaults on police officers after implementing this policy.
An earlier Queensland Parliamentary Library publication discusses the current law in
Introducing a “two strikes” policy for repeat serious child sex offenders
Under the proposed amendments set out in the Criminal Law (Two Strike Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill 2012, if a child sex offender, who has already been convicted as an adult of a serious child sex offence, commits another serious child sex offence, then in certain prescribed circumstances that offender will be sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment (or an indefinite sentence) with a 20 year non-parole period. These amendments give effect to the LNP Government’s “two strikes” policy for repeat serious child sex offenders.
The current legislative framework for sentencing of child sexual offences is set out in the report issued on 31 January 2012 by the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council (SAC) titled the “Sentencing of child sexual offences in Queensland” (see Executive Summary, pp 2-6). This report also sets out a number of recommendations for amendments to the sentencing laws for child sexual offences in
Proposed amendments to the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) contemplated by the Criminal Law (Two Strike Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill 2012 involve a new mandatory sentencing regime of life imprisonment for certain repeat child sex offenders. The new regime applies to the Criminal Code offences listed in proposed new Schedule 1A to the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) (or to an offence that involves counselling or procuring the commission of such an offence) committed in relation to a child under 16 years and in circumstances where an offender convicted of the offence would be liable to imprisonment for life (see in particular, clauses 5, 7 & 10 of the Criminal Law (Two Strike Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill 2012; Explanatory Notes, pp 2 & 4-6). These offences will be known as “serious child sex offences”; this is a new term introduced by the amendments.
When sentencing such an offender on the second occasion, the court must impose life imprisonment which cannot be mitigated or varied. The court will still have a discretion, however, to impose an indefinite sentence under Part 10 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld), but in this case the Criminal Law (Two Strike Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill 2012 makes it plain that the sentence of life imprisonment constitutes the nominal sentence and the finite sentence for such an indefinite sentence (Explanatory Notes, pp 2 & 5).
The proposed amendments have partial retrospective operation in the sense that the first serious child sex offence may have occurred before the commencement of the legislation, although the second serious child sex offence must have occurred after the commencement of the legislation (see clause 9 of the Criminal Law (Two Strike Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill 2012; Explanatory Notes, pp 3, 5 & 6).
The Corrective Services Act 2006 (Qld) is also amended to prescribe a minimum non-parole period of 20 years imprisonment for an offender sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment under the proposed new repeat child sex offender sentencing regime.
A position paper issued by Bravehearts in 2009 titled “Two strikes and they're out! Mandatory sentencing and child sex offenders” notes that a number of jurisdictions in
South Australia
Key Documents
- Second Reading Speech (Hansard Proof), 20 June 2012
- Second Reading Speech (Hansard Proof), 20 June 2012
The Hon Jarrod Bleijie MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, More jail time for repeat child sex offenders and murderers, Ministerial Media Statement, 18 June 2012
Bravehearts, Two strikes and they’re out! Mandatory sentencing and child sex offenders, Position Paper, 2009
Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council, Sentencing of child sexual offences in Queensland, Final Report, January 2012
Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council, Minimum standard non-parole periods, Final Report, September 2011
Prior
Kelli Longworth, Criminal Code (Serious Assaults on Police and Particular Other Persons) Amendment Bill 2010 (Qld),
Selected newspaper reports
Throwing away key a waste of money, Courier Mail, 21 June 2012
Murderers to face longer behind bars, Courier Mail, 19 June 2012
LNP commits to tougher penalties, Cairns Post, 19 June 2012
Cabinet greenlights new criminal penalties, Brisbane Times, 18 June 2012
Queensland Cabinet expected to approve changes to penalties and jail sentences, Courier Mail, 18 June 2012
Two strikes: State clamps down on child sex offenders, Brisbane Times, 18 June 2012
Cop killers will get mandatory life term: O’Farrell, The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May 2011
Newman’s family pitch at LNP launch, Brisbane Times, 4 March 2012
Kelli Longworth
General Distribution Research Team, Research and Information Service
