NT Bill Creates Presumption Against Bail For Repeat Property and Vehicle Offenders
Monday 30 May 2016 @ 11.48 a.m. | Crime
Northern Territory Attorney-General Mr Elferink introduced the Bail Amendment Bill 2016 into the Northern Territory Parliament on 25 May 2016. The Bill amends the Bail Act to create a presumption against bail for persons charged with certain property and vehicle-related offences, and to mandate electronic monitoring for people released on bail despite the presumption. TimeBase has previously reported on the Facebook announcement by Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles, where he foreshadowed the introduction of such a bill.
Introducing the Bill into Parliament, Mr Elferink said:
“Offenders must be made to understand they will be held to account for a pattern of sustained and continued criminal activity. It must be clear to offenders that consequences of continued offending are manifold including a reduced likelihood of bail if you are arrested for a subsequent criminal offence.”
Key Provisions
The proposed amendments will create a presumption against bail in section 7A where a person has been charged with a serious property or vehicle offence and has been previously convicted of 2 or more previous serious property or vehicle offences, within the last two years.
If bail is granted despite the presumption against bail, section 7A(3A) provides that a court must attach a condition that the person enter into a ‘conduct agreement’ involving electronic monitoring. According to the Explanatory Memorandum, this new section “effectively overrides section 28(2), which requires that bail conditions must be reasonably proportional to the risks to the safety and welfare of others or to the proper administration of justice that may result from releasing an accused person on bail.”
Lawyers Express Concerns
Lawyers Weekly reported that the Australian Bar Association has spoken out against the legislation. President Patrick O’Sullivan QC said:
“This proposed legislation will disproportionately target young Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory, where the rate of indigenous people in prison is close to 90 per cent… Indigenous incarceration is a national crisis and we need to be looking at solutions that divert Indigenous people from the criminal justice system, not the other way around.”
Tass Liveris, the president of the Law Society, also had concerns about the changes, saying:
“Everyone is sick and tired of what communities see as the revolving door of jail. We have been on this path for some time and the community is no safer for it. These proposed changes are another step in the wrong direction…”
Parliament resumes for estimates hearings in June, before elections take place in August.
TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.
Sources:
Bail Amendment Bill 2016 & Explanatory Statement - available from TimeBase's LawOne service
NT bail law changes cause outcry (Lara Bullock, Lawyers Weekly, 27 May 2016)
