Dangerous goods—acts likely to endanger life or cause serious harm
23A Dangerous goods—acts likely to endanger life or cause serious harm
A person commits an offence if:
the person commits an offence against subsection 23(1); and
the act constituting the offence is likely to endanger a person’s life or cause serious harm to a person.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 14 years.
Subsection 23(1) provides for offences relating to dangerous goods and Division 3 aircraft.
There is no fault element for the physical element described in paragraph (1)(a) other than the fault elements (however applying), if any, for the physical elements of the offence against subsection 23(1).
To avoid doubt, a person does not commit an offence against subsection 23(1) for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a) if the person has a defence to the offence against subsection 23(1).
For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), an act is taken to be likely to cause serious harm to a person if it is likely to substantially contribute to serious harm to a person.
Alternative verdicts
On a trial for an offence against subsection (1), the trier of fact may find the defendant not guilty of that offence but guilty of an offence against subsection 23(1) if:
the trier of fact is not satisfied that the defendant is guilty of the offence against subsection (1) of this section; and
the trier of fact is satisfied that the defendant is guilty of the offence against subsection 23(1); and
the defendant has been accorded procedural fairness in relation to that finding of guilt.
This Act’s bill:Second reading speech
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