Staker v WA

[2012] WASCA 63

Western Australia Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

See how it works

Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Appeal against sentence
4. › Parity principle
5. › Co-offender given excessively lenient sentence
6. › Whether disparity gives rise to justifiable sense of grievance
7. › Whether court may reduce sentence to less than adequate level
8. › Criminal Code (WA), s 378, s 392, s 444
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Appeal against sentence
4. › Parity principle
5. › Scope of co-offender
6. › Whether formal identity of charges necessary
7. › Substance rather than form
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Appeal against sentence
4. › Parity principle
5. › Comparison of total effective sentences
6. › Whether regard may be had to total sentences where parity applies to some but not all offences
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Appeal against sentence
4. › Manifest excess
5. › Totality principle

Quick Take

Where the parity principle applies to one or more of a greater number of offences for which co-offenders are sentenced, the court may compare total effective sentences for all offences as an aspect of systematic fairness. Co-offenders need not be charged with identical offences for the parity principle to apply; the court looks to substance rather than form. An excessively lenient sentence on a co-offender does not require or permit the court to impose an excessively lenient sentence on the appellant, but the sentence may be reduced to a level still within the range of appropriate sentences.