Section 9AA of the Sentencing Act 1995 (WA), which provides for a structured guilty plea discount of up to 25%, does not apply to the sentencing of federal offenders. The general and unqualified provision in s 16A(2)(g) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) is inconsistent with the detailed and exhaustive provision in s 9AA, and there is no room in the Commonwealth legislative scheme for its operation. Sentencing judges dealing with federal offences are not bound to state the period or percentage of any discount for a guilty plea. Disparity between co-offenders' sentences does not infringe the parity principle where it is explained by material differences including cooperation with authorities, the totality principle, and differences in culpability and antecedents.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 39 later cases that cite this judgment.
30 of the 39 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.