Reduction of sentence—assistance in administration of justice
35A Reduction of sentence—assistance in administration of justice
This section applies if—
an offender is convicted or found guilty of an offence; and
before or after the conviction or finding of guilt, the defence assisted in the administration of justice for the offence.
Example—par (b) an admission made by the defence pre-trial or during a trial
A court may impose a lesser penalty (including a shorter nonparole period) on the offender than it would otherwise have imposed having regard to the degree of assistance provided in the administration of justice.
A lesser penalty imposed under this section must not be unreasonably disproportionate to the nature and circumstances of the offence.
For this section, assistance in the administration of justice—
includes a pre-trial disclosure by the defence; but
does not include assistance—
consisting only of a plea of guilty under section 35; or
given to law enforcement authorities under section 36.
In this section:
defence means—
the offender; or
any lawyer representing the offender.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory statementSecond reading speech
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