Department of Justice

1. About this direction

This practice direction guides the bench when sentencing at Plea and sentence. It does not fix numbers. Every sentence is a judgement about the offence, the person and the roleplay, and the bench is trusted to make it.

2. The sentence types

• Fine: an amount of money.
• Jail: a term in months, carried out through the prison.
• Community work: tasks carried out in the city.

A sentence may combine these. The bench may also sentence without recording a conviction, which is one of the court’s results.

3. How each part is carried out

Fines: the money part of a sentence becomes an unpaid fine on the person’s record, which they pay through Fines Melbourne on their phone. If it goes overdue Melbourne Police enforce it, as with any other fine.

Jail and community work: carried out in the city. A person sentenced to jail or community work while away from the city has 3 days to turn up; after that a warrant to surrender is issued.

The result and sentence are recorded on the tablet and printed on a court order, which is handed to the person in court.

4. Spent convictions

A conviction with no imprisonment is spent 60 days after the matter was finalised. The bench can also spend a conviction. Bear this in mind: a fine-only conviction is, in time, a clean slate; a jail term is not.

5. Sentence indications

At a Contest mention the bench may give a sentence indication: what sentence a guilty plea would get if entered now. An indication helps the accused make a real choice between pleading and contesting.

Only give an indication you would be prepared to honour. If the accused pleads guilty on the strength of it, the sentence at Plea and sentence should match it.

6. Principles for proportionate sentences

• Proportion: the sentence should fit the seriousness of the offence. Reserve the heaviest sentences for the most serious conduct.
• Plea discount: a guilty plea saves everyone time and should be rewarded with a lighter sentence. The earlier the plea, the bigger the discount.
• Record: consider the person’s history. A first offender and a repeat offender should not get the same sentence for the same conduct.
• Circumstances: weigh what was said in court, by both sides, about why it happened and what has changed since.
• Consistency: similar matters should get similar sentences. Check court-results for how comparable matters were sentenced.
• Fun and fair: a sentence should leave the person with a story and a reason to come back, not a reason to quit the server.

7. Giving reasons

In our courts the bench gives short reasons when sentencing: what the offence was, what counted for and against the person, and what the sentence is. Two or three sentences on the microphone is enough. Reasons make the sentence easier to accept and easier to compare later.