Section 412 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic) is a statutory embodiment of the slip rule and does not authorise a sentencing judge to amend a perfected order to correct a substantive error such as an erroneous serious drug offender designation. Where a sentencing judge erroneously designates an offender as a serious drug offender, the error will be treated as material unless the appellate court is satisfied it could not have materially affected the sentence; the fact that the judge did not expressly deploy the disproportionate sentencing power in s 6D(b) does not render the error immaterial because s 6D affects the sentencing calculus in every case to which it applies. A sentencing judge's report under s 316 cannot be relied upon where it contradicts the plain language of the court record and reasons for sentence, or where it essays on the very topic the appellate court must decide.
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