The District Court of Western Australia has jurisdiction to try charges of rape alleged to have been committed before 1 April 1986, because s 10 of the Sentencing Act 1995 (WA) operates to reduce the maximum penalty from life imprisonment to the lesser penalty now applicable for sexual penetration without consent. The word 'offence' in s 10 refers to conduct made punishable by a written law, not to a specific statutory offence as defined. The question was decided 2-1, with McKechnie J dissenting on the basis that s 10 only applies where the penalty for the same offence is amended.
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