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CRIME AND CORRUPTION ACT 2001 - SECT 199
Punishment of contempt
199 Punishment of contempt
(1) A person’s contempt of the presiding officer conducting a commission
hearing may be punished under this section.
(2) The presiding officer may
certify the contempt in writing to the Supreme Court (the
"court" ).
(3) For subsection (2) , it is enough for the presiding officer to
be satisfied that there is evidence of contempt.
(4) The presiding officer
may issue a warrant directed to a police officer or all police officers for
the apprehension of the person to be brought before the Supreme Court to be
dealt with according to law.
(5) The Bail Act 1980 applies to the proceeding
for the contempt started by the certification in the same way it applies to a
charge of an offence.
(6) The court must inquire into the alleged contempt.
(7) The court must hear— (a) witnesses and evidence that may be produced
against or for the person whose contempt was certified; and
(b) any statement
given by the person in defence.
(8) If the court is satisfied the person has
committed the contempt, the court may punish the person as if the person had
committed the contempt in relation to proceedings in the court.
(8A) However,
the court must punish the person in contempt by imprisonment if— (a) the
contempt that is certified is— (i) a failure by a person, under section 183
, to take an oath when required by the presiding officer; or
(ii) a failure
by a person, under section 185 or 188 , to produce a stated document or thing
at a commission hearing under an attendance notice or a section 75B
requirement without reasonable excuse; or
(iii) a failure by a person, under
section 190 or 192 , to answer a question put to the person at the hearing by
the presiding officer without reasonable or lawful excuse; and
(b) the court
is satisfied the person has committed the contempt.
(8B) The maximum
punishment the court may impose for a contempt mentioned in subsection (8A)
is— (a) for the person’s first contempt—10 years imprisonment; or
(b)
for the person’s second contempt—14 years imprisonment; or
(c) for the
person’s third or subsequent contempt—life imprisonment.
(8C) For
subsection (8B) — (a) despite any other law, a term of imprisonment imposed
under subsection (8B) must be ordered to be served wholly in a corrective
services facility; and
(b) if a person is punished for more than 1 contempt,
unless there are exceptional circumstances, the punishment for the
second contempt or third or subsequent contempt must be for a term of
imprisonment that is longer than the term of imprisonment imposed on the
person for the immediately preceding contempt; and
(c) the hearings mentioned
in subsection (12) , definition second contempt , may be the same hearing; and
(d) the hearings mentioned in subsection (12) , definition
third or subsequent contempt , may be the same hearing; and
(e) the failure
by a person of a type mentioned in subsection (8A) that constitutes the
person’s second contempt, or third or subsequent contempt, may be the same
failure by the person of a type mentioned in subsection (8A) that constituted
the person’s first contempt or other preceding contempt.
(8D) A person
punished by imprisonment under this section may be brought before the
commission to ascertain whether the person wishes to purge the contempt.
(8E)
A person imprisoned under this section may be brought before the Supreme
Court, on the person’s or the commission’s application, for a declaration
that the person has purged the contempt.
(8F) The court may order the
person’s discharge from prison before the end of the term— (a) if it is
satisfied that the person has purged the contempt; and
(b) it has heard the
commission’s submissions in relation to the application and the person’s
discharge from prison.
(9) The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 apply to
the court’s investigation, hearing and power to punish, with necessary
changes.
(9A) The court’s hearing under this section is closed to the
public. Note— See also section 200A in relation to the confidentiality of
proceedings under this section.
(9B) However, the court may permit a person
to be present at the hearing in the interests of justice.
(10) The presiding
officer’s certificate of contempt is evidence of the matters contained in
the certificate.
(11) The person is not excused from attending before a
commission hearing in obedience to an attendance notice only because the
person is punished or liable to punishment under this section for contempt of
the presiding officer.
(12) In this section—
"first contempt" , of a person, means a failure by the person of a type
mentioned in subsection (8A) .
"second contempt" , of a person, means a failure by the person of a type
mentioned in subsection (8A) that takes place in relation to a hearing dealing
with the same subject matter as that dealt with in the hearing in which the
person’s first contempt was certified and for which the person has served a
term of imprisonment imposed under subsection (8B) .
"third or subsequent contempt" , of a person, means a failure by the person of
a type mentioned in subsection (8A) that takes place in relation to a hearing
dealing with the same subject matter as that dealt with in the hearing in
which the person’s first contempt or other preceding contempt was certified
and for which the person has served a term of imprisonment imposed under
subsection (8B) .
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