Nature of Crime
This term describes a serious crime, such as murder or robbery, that is tried before a judge and jury.
What is an indictable offence?
Police usually need one of these, issued by a court, before searching private property.
This NSW court hears the most serious indictable offences, such as murder and treason.
What is the Supreme Court?
This is the most common penalty, requiring a convicted person to pay a sum of money to the state.
what is a fine?
This is the minimum age at which a child can be held criminally responsible in NSW.
What is 10 years old?
This Latin term refers to the physical, 'guilty act' element of a crime.
What is actus reus?
This term describes releasing an accused person into the community, sometimes with conditions, until their court date.
This term describes a jury that cannot agree on a verdict, often resulting in a retrial.
What is a hung jury?
This purpose of punishment focuses on helping the offender address the causes of their behaviour so they don't reoffend.
What is rehabilitation?
This specialist court generally hears criminal matters involving offenders aged 10 to 17.
What is the Children's Court?
This Latin term refers to the 'guilty mind' — the intention or recklessness behind a crime.
This right allows a suspect to refuse to answer police questions without it being used against them.
What is the right to silence?
This process involves discussions between the prosecution and defence that may result in a guilty plea to a lesser charge.
What is charge negotiation?
Factors such as use of a weapon, vulnerability of the victim, or a prior record fall into this category, which increases the severity of a sentence.
What are aggravating factors?
This Latin term refers to the rebuttable presumption that a child aged 10–13 is incapable of criminal intent.
This type of offence, common among driving and regulatory offences, does not require the prosecution to prove mens rea.
What is a strict liability offence?
This NSW Act sets out police powers relating to search, arrest, detention and questioning.
What is Law Enforcement Powers and Responsibilities Act (LEPRA)?
This defence argues the accused could not understand or control their actions due to this complete defence.
What is the defence of mental illness?
These are set by senior courts, such as the Court of Criminal Appeal, to promote consistency in sentencing for a particular offence.
What are judicial guidelines? Or precedent
This term describes crime that crosses national borders, such as drug trafficking or people smuggling.
What is transnational crime?
This term describes a person who helps plan or encourages a crime but is not present when it is carried out.
Under LEPRA, this is the standard number of hours police can detain a person for investigation before charging or releasing them, the further hours a detention warrant can add on top of that — and the very different maximum that applies if the person is a terrorism suspect.
What is 6 hours, extendable by a further 6 hours (12 hours total) — compared to up to 14 days for a terrorism suspect?
This common law principle prevents a person from being tried twice for the same offence, but has been eroded in NSW by reforms permitting retrial for life sentence offences where fresh and compelling evidence emerges.
What is double jeopardy?
This order allows an eligible offender to serve their full sentence in the community under strict supervision instead of full-time custody.
What is an intensive correction order (ICO)?
What is the ICC or domestic courts if the ICC won't prosecute?