Queensland Consolidated Acts

PENALTIES AND SENTENCES ACT 1992 - SECT 179M

179M Reading aloud of victim impact statement during sentencing

(1) This section applies if a person has prepared a victim impact statement under section 179L .

(2) The prosecutor for the offence may request, orally or in writing, that all or part of the victim impact statement be read aloud before the court by—

(a) if the person who prepared the statement wishes to read it—the person; or

(b) if the person who prepared the statement wishes the prosecutor to read it—the prosecutor.

(3) If a request is made under subsection (2) , the court must allow the person stated in the request to read the whole of the victim impact statement, or a part of the victim impact statement identified in the request, aloud before the court unless the court considers that, having regard to all relevant circumstances, it is inappropriate to do so.

(4) To remove any doubt, it is declared that—

(a) the purpose of the reading aloud of the victim impact statement before the court is to provide a therapeutic benefit to the victim; and

(b) it is not necessary for a person, reading aloud the victim impact statement before the court under this section, to read the statement under oath or affirmation.