McGILLIVRAY & Ors v Alan Piper, Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Justice

[2000] WASCA 245

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Constitutional Law (Cth)
2. › Judicial power of Commonwealth
3. › Contempt of court
4. › Inherent power of courts exercising federal jurisdiction
5. › Whether contempt of Family Court exercising federal jurisdiction constitutes offence against law of Commonwealth
6. › Whether contemnor is 'federal offender'
7. › Constitution (Cth), s 71, Ch III
8. › Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s 16, s 19AZD(3)
1. Statutes
2. › Interpretation
3. › Direction that one Act 'to be read with' another
4. › Effect of reading two Acts together as single enactment
5. › Whether exclusion in one Act applies to provisions of the other
6. › Sentence Administration Act 1995 (WA), s 3
7. › Sentencing Act 1995 (WA), s 3(3)(a)
1. Contempt of Court
2. › Family Court of Western Australia
3. › Flagrant challenge to authority of court
4. › Imprisonment for contempt
5. › Eligibility for release on home detention order
6. › Whether contemnor excluded from sentence administration regime
7. › Sentence Administration Act 1995 (WA), s 59
1. Words and Phrases
2. › 'Being punished'
3. › Whether confined to passing of sentence or extends to serving of sentence
4. › Sentencing Act 1995 (WA), s 3(3)(a)

Quick Take

Persons imprisoned for contempt of the Family Court of Western Australia exercising federal jurisdiction are not 'federal offenders' under the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) and cannot access State pre-release permit schemes via s 19AZD(3). Under State law, the exclusion of contemnors in s 3(3)(a) of the Sentencing Act 1995 (WA) applies equally to the Sentence Administration Act 1995 (WA) by virtue of the direction in s 3 of the latter Act that it be read with the former, rendering contemnors ineligible for home detention orders.