Terms used
3 Terms used
In this Act, unless a contrary intention appears —
accused includes —
a person charged with, convicted of, or found guilty of an offence;
a person whose conviction for an offence is stayed;
a person in respect of whom an appeal relating to an offence is pending;
a person in respect of whom a new trial for an offence has been ordered;
adjournment —
means any order of a court by which proceedings for an offence are postponed or interrupted or are to be held at a different time or place before the same court; and
is deemed to include any order of a court, other than a committal to the Supreme Court or District Court, by which the venue of any proceedings for an offence is changed to another court or a court at another place whether by way of a remand, referral, or recommittal of the accused or otherwise;
appeal includes an application for leave to appeal;
appropriate judicial officer means —
subject to paragraphs (b), (c) and (d), a judicial officer who is empowered to exercise jurisdiction in the court before which the accused is required to appear pursuant to his bail undertaking; or
if the court is the Court of Appeal, a judge of appeal; or
except in section 49, a judge of the Supreme Court or of the Children’s Court, as the case may require, in any case where —
under section 15 only a judge of the Supreme Court or of the Children’s Court has power to grant bail; or
a judicial officer has exercised the power contained in section 31(2)(d),
for the appearance in question; or
except in section 49, a judge of the Supreme Court, of the District Court, or of the Children’s Court, as the case may require, in any case where such a judge has granted bail under section 14 for the appearance in question;
approved, in relation to a form, means approved by the chief executive officer of the department of the Public Service principally assisting in the administration of this Act;
approved electronic monitoring device means —
an electronic monitoring device that has been approved by the CEO (corrections); and
any equipment, wires or other items associated with a device under paragraph (a);
as soon as is practicable means as soon as is reasonably practicable;
authorised community services officer means any of the following persons —
the CEO (corrections) or a delegate of the CEO (corrections) under subsection (5);
a registrar of the Children’s Court;
a superintendent of a detention centre under the Young Offenders Act 1994;
the officer for the time being in charge of any detention centre under the Young Offenders Act 1994;
authorised officer means an authorised police officer or an authorised community services officer;
authorised police officer means —
a police officer who holds the rank of sergeant, or a higher rank;
the police officer who is for the time being in charge of a police station;
whichever of these officers is for the time being in charge of a lock‑up —
a police officer;
a special constable appointed under the Police Act 1892 Part III whose powers, duties and obligations are or include those of an authorised police officer under this Act;
a police auxiliary officer appointed under the Police Act 1892 Part IIIB whose powers, duties and obligations are or include those of an authorised police officer under this Act;
bail undertaking means an undertaking described in section 28(2);
CEO (corrections) means the chief executive officer of the Public Sector agency principally assisting the Minister administering Part 8 of the Sentence Administration Act 2003 in its administration;
Chief Judge means the Chief Judge of the District Court;
Chief Justice means the Chief Justice of Western Australia;
child has the same meaning as young person has in the Young Offenders Act 1994;
Commonwealth Criminal Code means the Criminal Code set out in the Schedule to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Commonwealth);
community corrections officer has the same meaning as in the Sentence Administration Act 2003;
confirmed control order has the meaning given in the Commonwealth Criminal Code section 100.1(1);
court means each of the following —
the Magistrates Court;
the Children’s Court;
the Coroner’s Court of Western Australia;
the District Court;
the Supreme Court;
the Court of Appeal;
court custody centre has the meaning given in the Court Security and Custodial Services Act 1999 section 3;
designated family relationship means a relationship between 2 persons —
who are, or were, married to each other; or
who are, or were, in a de facto relationship with each other; or
who have, or had, an intimate personal relationship with each other; or
one of whom is a child who —
ordinarily resides, or resided, with the other person; or
regularly resides or stays, or resided or stayed, with the other person;
or
one of whom is, or was, a child of whom the other person is a guardian;
Director of Public Prosecutions means —
the Director of Public Prosecutions for the State; or
the officer in charge in the State of the Commonwealth Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,
as the case requires;
early release order means an early release order made under the Sentence Administration Act 1995 1 or Sentence Administration Act 2003;
electronic monitoring condition means an electronic monitoring condition imposed under Schedule 1 Part E clause 1;
family relationship has the meaning given in the Restraining Orders Act 1997 section 4(1);
home detention condition means a home detention condition imposed under clause 3 of Part D of Schedule 1;
interim control order has the meaning given in the Commonwealth Criminal Code section 100.1(1);
judge of appeal has the meaning given in the Supreme Court Act 1935 section 4(1);
judicial officer means any person empowered to exercise jurisdiction in a court whether or not he is sitting as a court, and includes a single justice and, where the context so requires, the Court of Appeal exercising jurisdiction under this Act;
lock‑up includes a place prescribed as a lock‑up for the purposes of the Court Security and Custodial Services Act 1999;
offence means any act, omission or conduct which renders the person doing the act, making the omission or engaging in the conduct liable to any punishment, and includes an alleged offence; but nothing in this definition shall limit the operation of subsection (4);
person linked to terrorism means a person who —
is charged with, or has been convicted of, a terrorism offence; or
is the subject of an interim control order or confirmed control order, or has been the subject of a confirmed control order within the last 10 years;
prosecutor includes —
in the case of an offence charged in a prosecution notice, the prosecutor;
in the case of an offence charged in an indictment, the State or the Commonwealth, as the case may be;
registrar of a court means —
for a court other than the Coroner’s Court of Western Australia, the principal registrar, a registrar or a deputy registrar of the court; or
for the Coroner’s Court of Western Australia, a coroner’s registrar as defined in the Coroners Act 1996 section 3;
serial family violence offender means a person declared to be a serial family violence offender under the Sentencing Act 1995 section 124E;
serious offence means —
an offence against section 50M(1) or (2), 50V(1) or (2) or 51(2a); and
an offence described in Schedule 2;
sexual offence means —
an offence described in Schedule 2 that is of a sexual nature; or
an offence under a written law that has been repealed, if the acts or omissions alleged against the accused that constitute the offence under the repealed written law would constitute an offence referred to in paragraph (a); or
an offence of attempting, or of conspiracy or incitement, to commit an offence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); or
an offence of becoming an accessory after the fact (as defined in The Criminal Code section 10) to an offence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b);
surety and surety undertaking have the meanings assigned to them by section 35;
surety approval officer means a person who is authorised by section 36 to decide whether an applicant should be approved as a surety;
terrorism offence means —
an offence against the Commonwealth Criminal Code Division 72 Subdivision A; or
an offence against the Commonwealth Criminal Code Division 80 Subdivision B; or
an offence against the Commonwealth Criminal Code Part 5.3, except an offence against section 104.22, 104.27, 104.27A, 105.41 or 105.45; or
an offence against the Commonwealth Criminal Code Part 5.5; or
an offence against either of the following provisions of the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945 (Commonwealth) —
Part 4; or
Part 5, to the extent that it relates to the Charter of the United Nations (Sanctions — Al‑Qaida) Regulations 2008 (Commonwealth);
or
an offence against the Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act 1978 (Commonwealth) (repealed); or
an offence against the Crimes (Internationally Protected Persons) Act 1976 (Commonwealth) section 8; or
an offence under a written law or a law of the Commonwealth, another State, a Territory or another country, that substantially corresponds to an offence in paragraphs (a) to (e) and (g); or
an offence of attempting, inciting or conspiring to commit an offence referred to in paragraphs (a) to (h);
terrorist act has the meaning given in the Terrorism (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2002 section 3;
terrorist intelligence information means information relating to an actual or suspected terrorist act (whether in this State or elsewhere) the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected —
to prejudice national security; or
to endanger a person’s life or physical safety; or
to threaten significant damage to infrastructure or property; or
to prejudice a criminal investigation; or
to reveal intelligence‑gathering methodologies, investigative techniques or technologies or covert practices; or
to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement;
trial means all proceedings for an offence between —
the time when the accused is called upon to plead to the prosecution notice or the indictment; and
the time when the accused is found not guilty or is sentenced.
For the purposes of the definition of designated family relationship in subsection (1), an intimate personal relationship exists between 2 persons (including persons of the same sex) if —
the persons are engaged to be married to each other, including a betrothal under cultural or religious tradition; or
the persons date each other, or have a romantic involvement with each other, whether or not a sexual relationship is involved.
In deciding whether an intimate personal relationship exists under subsection (1A)(b), the following may be taken into account —
the circumstances of the relationship, including, for example, the level of trust and commitment;
the length of time the relationship has existed;
the frequency of contact between the persons;
the level of intimacy between the persons.
A reference in this Act —
to a power to grant bail includes a reference to a power to refuse bail;
to a grant of bail includes a reference to a grant of bail by the exercise of a power in section 31(2).
Where in this Act there is a reference to a requirement that an accused appear in court, the reference is to a requirement, unless a contrary intention appears, that the accused —
surrender himself into the custody of the court or, in the case of a bail undertaking, of the court specified therein, or of such person as the court may direct, to be dealt with according to law; and
submit himself to a search of his person and any property then in his possession (which is hereby authorised) and allow to be taken from him, to be dealt with according to the relevant law and procedures, anything so found; and
remain in custody until authorised to be released therefrom.
If a person is arrested under a warrant issued —
under section 50, 79, 84E or 129 of the Sentencing Act 1995 in connection with a possible breach of a conditional release order, a sentence of suspended imprisonment or conditional suspended imprisonment, or a community order imposed under that Act; or
under section 43 of the Young Offenders Act 1994 in respect of an alleged breach of a youth community based order, an intensive youth supervision order or a conditional release order made under that Act,
then —
the person is to be taken as having been arrested and to be in custody awaiting an appearance in court for the offence for which the sentence was imposed; and
the first appearance in court after the arrest is to be taken, for the purposes of sections 5(1) and 8(1) and clause 1 of Part A and clause 7 of Part C of Schedule 1, to be the initial appearance for that offence; and
the proceedings following the arrest are to be taken to be proceedings for that offence and to be a trial for the purpose of the definition in subsection (1) of trial.
The CEO (corrections) may by writing signed by him delegate to any officer of the department of which he is the chief executive officer any function he has under this Act as an authorised community services officer.
[Section 3 amended: No. 74 of 1984 s. 3; No. 15 of 1988 s. 4; No. 49 of 1988 s. 78; No. 61 of 1990 s. 4; No. 31 of 1993 s. 6; No. 45 of 1993 s. 4 and 12; No. 78 of 1995 s. 7; No. 57 of 1997 s. 21(1); No. 54 of 1998 s. 4 and 14; No. 47 of 1999 s. 7; No. 50 of 2003 s. 29(3); No. 65 of 2003 s. 121(2); No. 27 of 2004 s. 13(2); No. 34 of 2004 Sch. 2 cl. 3(2); No. 45 of 2004 s. 28(4); No. 59 of 2004 s. 141; No. 84 of 2004 s. 11, 82 and 83(2); No. 65 of 2006 s. 51 and 53; No. 6 of 2008 s. 4 and 24(2); No. 46 of 2011 s. 25; No. 20 of 2013 s. 22; No. 15 of 2019 s. 4; No. 13 of 2020 s. 22; No. 30 of 2020 s. 39; No. 29 of 2022 s. 4; No. 28 of 2024 s. 4.]
[Section 3. Modifications to be applied in order to give effect to Cross-border Justice Act 2008: section altered 1 Nov 2009. See endnote 1M; amended: No. 42 of 2009 s. 12.]
[3A. Deleted: No. 20 of 2013 s. 23.]
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