Constable S J Miers v Blewett

[2013] QCA 23

Queensland Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

See how it works

Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Previous convictions
4. › Notice requirements
5. › Whether notice under s 47(5) of Justices Act 1886 (Qld) required for all previous convictions or only those increasing maximum penalty
6. › Justices Act 1886 (Qld), ss 47(4), 47(5)
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Previous convictions
4. › Circumstances of aggravation
5. › Whether failure to give notice precludes court from taking previous convictions into account at all or merely prevents application of higher maximum penalty
6. › Justices Act 1886 (Qld), ss 47(4), 47(5)
7. › Criminal Code 1899 (Qld), ss 1, 564(2)
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Domestic violence offences
4. › Contravention of protection order
5. › Relevance of prior convictions to sentence
6. › Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989 (Qld), s 80(1)
1. Criminal Law
2. › Appeal and new trial
3. › Appeal against sentence
4. › Manifest inadequacy
5. › Whether leave to appeal should be granted where sentence completed
6. › District Court of Queensland Act 1967, s 118

Quick Take

Section 47(5) of the Justices Act 1886 (Qld) requires notice only of previous convictions that have the legal effect of increasing the maximum penalty for the offence; it does not require notice of convictions merely relevant to the sentencing discretion under the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld). However, where notice is required but not given, the sentencing court is precluded from taking those convictions into account at all, not merely from applying the higher maximum. Washband v Queensland Police Service is no longer good law.