Section 12(4) of the Drug Court Act 1998 (NSW) binds the Court of Criminal Appeal equally with the sentencing court, preventing any increase of final sentence beyond the initial sentence. A Crown appeal against final sentence in the Drug Court cannot achieve an increase where the final sentence already equals the initial sentence; the Crown's remedy lies in appealing the initial sentence. The imposition of initial sentence under the Drug Court Act is a judicial act, not an administrative one. The Court identified an anomaly whereby Crown appeals from the Drug Court are heard by three judges while offender appeals are heard by a single judge.
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