A sentencing court exercising the discretion under s 161B(3) of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) to make a serious violent offence declaration must consider whether the circumstances of the offence warrant the declaration, and must not use the declaration merely as a mechanism to fix the parole eligibility date. Where the head sentence is below the automatic threshold, the appropriate tool for adjusting parole eligibility is the postponement power under s 160C(5) of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 and s 184(3) of the Corrective Services Act 2006.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 44 later cases that cite this judgment.
14 of the 44 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.