Pre-sentence reports on indication of guilty plea—restriction on use etc
43B Pre-sentence reports on indication of guilty plea—restriction on use etc
This section applies if the Magistrates Court—
has ordered a pre-sentence report in relation to an offender in the circumstances mentioned in section 41 (1) (a); but
has not—
found the offender guilty of the offence in a proceeding before the court; or
accepted the offender’s guilty plea for the offence.
A person commits an offence if the person publishes sensitive information.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months or both.
Subsection (2) does not apply if publishing the information was necessary on reasonable grounds for the preparation of the report, providing the report to a person under section 41 (3) (c), carrying out a court registry function or giving the information to the defendant or their legal representative.
The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (3) (see Criminal Code, s 58).
It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (2) if the person proves that the defendant consented to the publication of the information before it was published.
The defendant has a legal burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (4) (see Criminal Code, s 59).
Sensitive information must not be used in connection with the investigation or prosecution of an offence.
In this section:
publish means communicate or distribute information in a way or to an extent that makes it available to, or likely to come to the notice of, the public or a section of the public.
sensitive information, about a defendant in a proceeding, means information about any of the following:
the defendant having indicated to the court an intention to plead guilty in the proceeding;
information provided to an assessor for the purpose of the assessor preparing a pre‑sentence report in relation to the defendant in the proceeding;
the pre-sentence report in relation to the defendant in the proceeding.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory statementSecond reading speech
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