New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CRIMES (SENTENCING PROCEDURE) ACT 1999 - SECT 45

45 Court may decline to set non-parole period

(1) When sentencing an offender to imprisonment for an offence or, in the case of an aggregate sentence of imprisonment, for offences, a court may decline to set a non-parole period for the offence or offences if it appears to the court that it is appropriate to do so--

(a) because of the nature of the offence to which the sentence, or of each of the offences to which an aggregate sentence relates, or the antecedent character of the offender, or

(b) because of any other penalty previously imposed on the offender, or

(c) for any other reason that the court considers sufficient.

(1A) A court may decline to set a non-parole period for a sentence of imprisonment, or an aggregate sentence of imprisonment, for an offence or offences set out in the Table to Division 1A of this Part only if the term of the sentence is at least as long as the term of the non-parole period that the court would have set for the sentence if a non-parole period had been set in accordance with that Division.

(1B) Subsection (1A) does not apply in relation to the sentencing of an offender in respect of an offence--

(a) which is being dealt with summarily, or

(b) if the offender was under the age of 18 years at the time the offence was committed.

(2) If a court declines to set a non-parole period for a sentence of imprisonment or an aggregate sentence of imprisonment, it must make a record of its reasons for doing so.

(3) Subsection (2) does not limit any other requirement that a court has, apart from that subsection, to record the reasons for its decisions.

(4) The failure of a court to comply with the requirements of subsection (2) with respect to a sentence does not invalidate the sentence.