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New South Wales
Courts and Other Legislation
Amendment Bill 2007
Contents
Page
1 Name of Act 2
2 Commencement 2
3 Amendments 2
4 Repeal of Act 2
Schedule 1 Amendment of Coroners Act 1980 No 27 3
Schedule 2 Amendment of Land and Environment Court Act 1979
No 204 6
Schedule 3 Amendment of Legal Profession Act 2004 No 112 7
Schedule 4 Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54 8
Schedule 5 Consequential amendment of Regulations 17
b2007-118-16.d17
New South Wales
Courts and Other Legislation
Amendment Bill 2007
No , 2007
A Bill for
An Act to amend certain Acts with respect to coronial inquests and inquiries, court
procedure, young offenders and other matters.
Clause 1 Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2007. 3
2 Commencement 4
(1) This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act, except as 5
specified in subsection (2). 6
(2) Schedules 2, 4 and 5 commence on a day or days to be appointed by 7
proclamation. 8
3 Amendments 9
The Acts and Regulations specified in Schedules 1-5 are amended as 10
set out in those Schedules. 11
4 Repeal of Act 12
(1) This Act is repealed on the day following the day on which all of the 13
provisions of this Act have commenced. 14
(2) The repeal of this Act does not, because of the operation of section 30 15
of the Interpretation Act 1987, affect any amendment made by this Act. 16
Page 2
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Amendment of Coroners Act 1980 No 27 Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Amendment of Coroners Act 1980 No 27 1
(Section 3) 2
[1] Section 12A Obligation to report death 3
Omit "termination" from section 12A (3A). Insert instead "suspension". 4
[2] Section 14B General cases in which inquest required to be held 5
Omit "terminated or continued" from section 14B (1) (d). 6
Insert instead "suspended or continued". 7
[3] Sections 16A (2) and 34 (6) 8
Omit "terminates" wherever occurring. Insert instead "suspends". 9
[4] Section 19 Procedure at inquest or inquiry involving indictable offence 10
Omit "terminate" wherever occurring in section 19 (1A), (1B) (b) and 11
(1C) (b). 12
Insert instead "suspend". 13
[5] Section 20 14
Omit the section. Insert instead: 15
20 Procedure following suspension of inquest or inquiry under 16
section 19 17
(1) A coroner who has suspended, or not commenced, an inquest or 18
inquiry under section 19 may make an order, subject to 19
subsections (2) and (3): 20
(a) that the inquest or inquiry is to resume or commence (as 21
the case may be), or 22
(b) to dispense with the resumption or holding of the inquest 23
or inquiry. 24
(2) If a person has been charged with an indictable offence in which 25
the question of whether the person caused a death or suspected 26
death or a fire or explosion is in issue, an inquest or inquiry that 27
has been suspended, or that has not commenced, under section 19 28
may not be resumed or commenced (as the case may be), until the 29
charge is finally determined. 30
(3) If the coroner has suspended an inquest or inquiry after coming 31
to the opinion referred to in section 19 (1) (b) (and a person has 32
not been charged as referred to in subsection (2) in relation to an 33
indictable offence), the suspended inquest or inquiry may not be 34
Page 3
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Schedule 1 Amendment of Coroners Act 1980 No 27
resumed until the Attorney General or the Director of Public 1
Prosecutions advises that no proceedings will be taken against the 2
known person (as referred to in section 19 (1) (b)) in relation to 3
the indictable offence. 4
(4) An order under subsection (1) may be made on a coroner's own 5
motion or on the application of a person who has been granted 6
leave to appear or to be represented at the inquest or inquiry. 7
(5) If the coroner who suspended, or did not commence, an inquest 8
or inquiry under section 19 is not available to resume, commence 9
or dispense with the inquest or inquiry for any reason, the State 10
Coroner or a coroner authorised by the State Coroner, may 11
resume, commence or dispense with the inquest or inquiry in 12
accordance with this section. 13
(6) For the purposes of subsection (2), a charge is taken to be finally 14
determined if: 15
(a) the person has been discharged from proceedings with 16
respect to the offence to which the charge relates, or 17
(b) no further appeal can be made in proceedings in respect of 18
the charge without an extension of time being granted, or 19
(c) the Attorney General or the Director of Public 20
Prosecutions directs that no further proceedings be taken 21
against the person in respect of the charge. 22
[6] Section 22 23
Omit the section. Insert instead: 24
22 Finding of coroner or verdict of jury to be recorded 25
(1) The coroner holding an inquest concerning the death or suspected 26
death of a person must, at its conclusion or on its suspension, 27
record in writing his or her findings or, if there is a jury, the jury's 28
verdict, as to whether the person died and, if so: 29
(a) the person's identity, and 30
(b) the date and place of the person's death, and 31
(c) in the case of an inquest that is being concluded--the 32
manner and cause of the person's death. 33
(2) The coroner holding an inquiry concerning a fire or explosion 34
must, at its conclusion or on its suspension, record in writing his 35
or her findings or, in the case of an inquiry held before a jury, the 36
jury's verdict: 37
(a) as to the date and place of the fire or explosion, and 38
Page 4
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Amendment of Coroners Act 1980 No 27 Schedule 1
(b) in the case of an inquiry that is being concluded--as to the 1
circumstances of the fire or explosion. 2
(3) Any record made under subsection (1) or (2) must not indicate or 3
in any way suggest that an offence has been committed by any 4
person. 5
[7] Section 23A Duty to hold fresh inquest or inquiry--new facts or evidence 6
Insert "or suspension" after "termination" in section 23A (5). 7
[8] Section 47 Powers of Supreme Court to order inquest or inquiry 8
Insert "or suspended" after "terminated" in section 47 (1). 9
[9] Section 53 Warrant for exhumation of body 10
Omit "terminated under section 19 or 21" from section 53 (1) (b) (i). 11
Insert instead "suspended under section 19 or terminated under section 21". 12
[10] Section 53 (2) 13
Omit the subsection. Insert instead: 14
(2) Where an inquest concerning the death or suspected death of a 15
person has been suspended under section 19 or terminated under 16
section 21, a coroner is not to exercise his or her powers under 17
subsection (1) with respect to the remains of that person unless an 18
inquest or a fresh inquest concerning the death of that person may 19
be resumed or held as referred to in section 20, 23 or 23A or 20
pursuant to section 47. 21
[11] Schedule 3 Savings and transitional provisions 22
Insert at the end of clause 1A (1): 23
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2007, but only to 24
the extent that it amends this Act 25
[12] Schedule 3, clause 16 26
Insert at the end of the Schedule: 27
16 Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2007 28
The amendments made to this Act by the Courts and Other 29
Legislation Amendment Act 2007 extend to an inquest or inquiry 30
that has been commenced, but not completed, before the 31
commencement of those amendments. 32
Page 5
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Schedule 2 Amendment of Land and Environment Court Act 1979 No 204
Schedule 2 Amendment of Land and Environment 1
Court Act 1979 No 204 2
(Section 3) 3
Section 34 Conciliation conferences (as substituted by Courts 4
Legislation Amendment Act 2007) 5
Insert after section 34 (10): 6
(10A) The same privilege with respect to defamation as exists with 7
respect to judicial proceedings and a document produced in 8
judicial proceedings exists with respect to: 9
(a) a conciliation conference, and 10
(b) a document or other material sent to or produced to a 11
Commissioner, or sent to or produced at the Court or the 12
registry of the Court, for the purpose of enabling a 13
conciliation conference to be arranged. 14
(10B) The privilege conferred by subsection (10A) extends only to a 15
publication made: 16
(a) at a conciliation conference, or 17
(b) in a document or other material sent to or produced to a 18
Commissioner, or sent to or produced at the Court or the 19
registry of the Court, for the purpose of enabling a 20
conciliation conference to be arranged. 21
Page 6
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Amendment of Legal Profession Act 2004 No 112 Schedule 3
Schedule 3 Amendment of Legal Profession Act 1
2004 No 112 2
(Section 3) 3
[1] Schedule 9 Savings, transitional and other provisions 4
Insert at the end of clause 26 (1) (c): 5
and 6
(d) a legal practitioner (where the term is not so expressed) of 7
a specified period of standing is to be read as a reference to 8
an Australian lawyer of that period of standing, 9
[2] Schedule 9, clause 26 (2) 10
Insert "or Australian lawyer" after "Australian legal practitioner" wherever 11
occurring. 12
Page 7
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Schedule 4 Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54
Schedule 4 Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1
1997 No 54 2
(Section 3) 3
[1] Section 3 Objects of Act 4
Insert at the end of section 3 (c): 5
, and 6
(d) to address the over representation of Aboriginal and Torres 7
Strait Islander children in the criminal justice system 8
through the use of youth justice conferences, cautions and 9
warnings. 10
[2] Section 4 Definitions 11
Insert "the Department of" after "of" in the definition of Director-General. 12
[3] Section 4, definition of "specialist youth officer" 13
Omit "Police Service". Insert instead "NSW Police Force". 14
[4] Section 4, definition of "youth liaison officer" 15
Insert in alphabetical order: 16
youth liaison officer means a member of the NSW Police Force 17
appointed as a youth liaison officer for the purposes of this Act 18
by the Commissioner of Police. 19
[5] Section 5 Meaning of "victim" 20
Omit section 5 (2). Insert instead: 21
(2) A person suffers harm if, as a result of such an act: 22
(a) the person suffers physical harm or suffers mental illness, 23
nervous shock or other psychological harm (including 24
fear, humiliation, shame or stress), or 25
(b) the person's property is deliberately taken, destroyed or 26
damaged or the person suffers financial loss. 27
[6] Section 7 Principles of scheme 28
Insert after section 7 (g): 29
(h) The principle that the over representation of Aboriginal 30
and Torres Strait Islander children in the criminal justice 31
system should be addressed by the use of youth justice 32
conferences, cautions and warnings. 33
Page 8
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54 Schedule 4
[7] Section 7A 1
Insert after section 7: 2
7A Persons in relation to whom Act applies 3
(1) This Act applies in relation to a person who: 4
(a) is or was a child when an offence covered by this Act is or 5
was committed or alleged to have been committed, and 6
(b) is under the age of 21 years when being dealt with under 7
this Act. 8
(2) Subject to subsection (3), if a person in relation to whom this Act 9
applies is no longer a child when he or she is being dealt with 10
under this Act, a reference to a child in another provision of this 11
Act concerning how a child is to be, or may be, dealt with is to be 12
read as including, where appropriate, a reference to an individual 13
who is of or under the person's age. 14
(3) The following provisions of this Act do not apply to a person in 15
relation to whom this Act applies if the person is no longer a 16
child: 17
(a) section 10 (which relates to who is to be present with a 18
child when he or she makes admissions for the purposes of 19
this Act), 20
(b) section 22 (2) (which relates to who is to be present with a 21
child when an explanation concerning a caution is given), 22
(c) section 29 (3) (which relates to who is to be present with a 23
child when a caution is given), 24
(d) section 39 (2) (which relates to who is to be present with a 25
child when an explanation concerning a conference is 26
given), 27
(e) any other provision that requires the presence or consent 28
of, or consultation with, a person responsible for a child, 29
(f) any provision (or any provision belonging to a class of 30
provisions) prescribed by the regulations. 31
[8] Section 9 Procedures under scheme 32
Insert after section 9 (2A): 33
(2B) In determining whether a child should be dealt with under Part 3 34
or 4 or referred to a specialist youth officer under Part 5, an 35
investigating official is (if the official considers it practicable) to 36
make that determination within the period of 14 days after the 37
official becomes aware of the offence or alleged offence. 38
Page 9
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Schedule 4 Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54
(2C) A failure of an investigating official to comply with subsection 1
(2B): 2
(a) does not prevent action being taken under this Act, or 3
(b) invalidate any action taken under this Act. 4
[9] Section 10 Admission of offences 5
Omit "16 years" from section 10 (c). Insert instead "14 years". 6
[10] Section 16A 7
Insert after section 16: 8
16A Parents of child may be notified of warning 9
(1) An investigating official who gives a warning to a child, or a 10
youth liaison officer, may notify the parents of the child (whether 11
in writing, verbally or in person) that a warning has been given to 12
the child in respect of an offence committed by the child. 13
(2) However, an investigating official or youth liaison officer may 14
not notify a parent of a child under subsection (1) if the official 15
or officer is of the opinion that the disclosure of the giving of the 16
warning would pose an unacceptable risk to the safety, welfare or 17
well-being of the child. 18
[11] Section 17 Records of warnings 19
Insert after section 17 (2): 20
(3) Despite anything to the contrary in the State Records Act 1998 or 21
any other law, the Commissioner of Police is to ensure that any 22
record made under this section of a warning is destroyed or 23
expunged (as the case requires) as soon as is reasonably 24
practicable after the person to whom the record relates reaches 25
the age of 21 years. 26
Note. The Commissioner of Police may delegate this function. See 27
section 31 of the Police Act 1990. 28
[12] Section 24A 29
Insert after section 24: 30
24A Written statements from victims 31
(1) Before a caution is given to a child, the person arranging for the 32
caution to be given may: 33
(a) seek a written statement from any victim of the offence 34
concerned that describes the harm occasioned to the victim 35
by the offence, and 36
Page 10
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54 Schedule 4
(b) give guidance to any such victim as to the kind of matters 1
that are appropriate for inclusion in the statement, and 2
(c) provide any such statement received by the person to the 3
person giving the caution to the child. 4
(2) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the 5
content and form of written statements under subsection (1). 6
[13] Section 28 Persons who may accompany child 7
Insert after section 28 (j): 8
(k) if the child and (if present) a person of the kind referred to 9
in paragraph (b)-(d) who is an adult consent, one student 10
or probationary police officer for the purpose of training 11
the officer. 12
[14] Section 29 Giving of cautions 13
Insert after section 29 (2): 14
(2A) A person proposing to give a caution to a child may defer giving 15
the caution: 16
(a) if a person responsible for the child or the adult chosen by 17
the child is not present--until a person responsible for the 18
child or an adult chosen by the child is present, or 19
(b) if it appears to the person that the child is so affected by 20
alcohol or another drug (or a combination of drugs) that the 21
child's capacity to understand the purpose, nature or effect 22
of the caution is impaired--until the person considers that 23
the child has regained that capacity. 24
(2B) A person who gives a caution to a child may, if the person 25
considers it appropriate, read out some or all of a written 26
statement from a victim that is provided to the person under 27
section 24A when giving the caution. 28
[15] Section 31 Cautions by courts 29
Insert after section 31 (1): 30
(1A) If a court gives a caution under this section, the court must 31
dismiss the proceedings for the offence in respect of which the 32
caution is given. 33
(1B) A court giving a caution may: 34
(a) allow any victim of the offence concerned to prepare a 35
written statement that describes the harm occasioned to the 36
victim by the offence, and 37
Page 11
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Schedule 4 Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54
(b) if it considers it appropriate to do so, may permit all or part 1
of the statement to be read to the child when giving the 2
caution. 3
(1C) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the 4
content and form of written statements under subsection (1B). 5
[16] Section 33A 6
Insert after section 33: 7
33A Destruction of finger prints, palm prints and photographs 8
(1) If a child is given a caution under this Part, the Commissioner of 9
Police is to ensure that any finger prints or palm prints obtained 10
from, or photographs taken of, the child in connection with the 11
offence for which the caution is given (and any copies of them) 12
are destroyed. 13
Note. The Commissioner of Police may delegate this function. See 14
section 31 of the Police Act 1990. 15
(2) This section applies despite anything to the contrary in the State 16
Records Act 1998 or any other law. 17
[17] Section 42 Appointment of conference convenor 18
Omit "On referral of a matter for a conference under this Part," from section 19
42 (1). 20
Insert instead "If a conference administrator is satisfied that a matter has been 21
referred for a conference under this Part,". 22
[18] Section 43 23
Omit the section. Insert instead: 24
43 Time limit for holding conferences 25
A conference should be held not later than 28 days after the 26
referral for the conference is received by the conference 27
administrator and not less than 10 days after notice is given to a 28
child under section 45, unless the administrator reasonably 29
considers that it is not practicable to do so. 30
[19] Section 45 Preparation for conferences 31
Insert "or conference administrator" after "conference convenor" where firstly 32
occurring in section 45 (3). 33
Page 12
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54 Schedule 4
[20] Section 47 Participants in conferences 1
Insert after section 47 (1) (j): 2
(k) if the conference convenor, child, any victim and (if 3
present) a person responsible for the child all consent, one 4
police officer for the purpose of training the officer. 5
[21] Section 47 (2) (e) 6
Omit the paragraph. Insert instead: 7
(e) if the child is subject to the supervision of the Department 8
of Juvenile Justice pursuant to an order made under section 9
33 of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987, the 10
child's supervising officer, 11
[22] Section 57 Additional provisions relating to completion and 12
non-completion of outcome plans 13
Insert "under this subsection" after "dismiss" in section 57 (2). 14
[23] Section 62A 15
Insert after section 62: 16
62A Delegation of Director-General's functions 17
The Director-General may delegate the exercise of any function 18
of the Director-General under this Act or the regulations (other 19
than this power of delegation) to any of the following persons: 20
(a) a Deputy Director-General of the Department of Juvenile 21
Justice, 22
(b) any other person (or person belonging to a class of 23
persons) prescribed by the regulations. 24
[24] Section 66 Disclosure of records 25
Insert after section 66 (2) (c): 26
(d) records of, or relating to, warnings under this Act may be 27
divulged to a youth liaison officer for the purpose of taking 28
action under section 16A, 29
(e) records of, or relating to, cautions and conferences under 30
this Act may (subject to any regulations made for the 31
purposes of subsection (3)) be divulged to an authorised 32
officer of the Department of Juvenile Justice. 33
Page 13
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Schedule 4 Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54
[25] Section 66 (3) and (4) 1
Insert after section 66 (2): 2
(3) The regulations may make for provision for or with respect to the 3
divulging of records in the circumstance referred to in subsection 4
(2) (e). 5
(4) In this section: 6
authorised officer of the Department of Juvenile Justice means 7
any of the following officers of the Department: 8
(a) the Director-General, 9
(b) a Deputy Director-General, 10
(c) a juvenile justice officer, 11
(d) such other member of staff (or member of staff belonging 12
to a class of members of staff) of the Department as may 13
be prescribed by the regulations. 14
[26] Section 68 Interventions not to be disclosed as criminal history 15
Insert at the end of section 68 (2) (c): 16
, or 17
(d) an application by a person for employment in child-related 18
employment within the meaning of Part 7 of the 19
Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998. 20
[27] Section 70 Youth Justice Advisory Committee 21
Omit the section. 22
[28] Schedule 1 Conference convenors 23
Omit "Part 2 of the Public Sector Management Act 1988" from clause 4 (1). 24
Insert instead "Chapter 2 of the Public Sector Employment and Management 25
Act 2002". 26
[29] Schedule 3 Savings and transitional provisions 27
Insert before clause 1: 28
Part 1 General 29
Page 14
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54 Schedule 4
[30] Schedule 3, clause 1 1
Insert at the end of clause 1 (1): 2
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2007, to the extent 3
that it amends this Act and the Regulations set out in Schedule 5 4
to the 2007 Act 5
[31] Schedule 3, Part 2, heading 6
Insert after clause 1: 7
Part 2 Provisions consequent on enactment of 8
this Act 9
[32] Schedule 3, Part 3 10
Insert after clause 3: 11
Part 3 Provisions consequent on enactment of 12
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment 13
Act 2007 14
4 Definition 15
In this Part: 16
amending Act means the Courts and Other Legislation 17
Amendment Act 2007. 18
5 Application of amendments 19
(1) Any amendment made to this Act by the amending Act relating 20
to the conduct of youth justice conferences or the giving of 21
cautions extends to any child: 22
(a) who committed or is alleged to have committed an offence 23
covered by this Act before the commencement of the 24
amendment, and 25
(b) in respect of whom it has been decided (whether before or 26
after the commencement of the amendment) that the child 27
should be dealt with under this Act by means of a youth 28
justice conference or caution, but that conference or 29
caution has not yet been conducted or given. 30
Page 15
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Schedule 4 Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54
(2) Section 7A (as inserted by the amending Act) and, accordingly, 1
this Act extends in relation to any person: 2
(a) who committed or is alleged to have committed an offence 3
covered by this Act before the commencement of that 4
section, and 5
(b) was a child when the offence was committed or was 6
alleged to have been committed, and 7
(c) who has not been previously dealt with under this Act in 8
respect of the offence or alleged offence, and 9
(d) who is under the age of 21 years. 10
(3) The amendment made to section 10 by the amending Act applies 11
to admissions made on or after the commencement of the 12
amendment. 13
6 Abolition of Youth Justice Advisory Committee 14
(1) The Youth Justice Advisory Committee established by section 70 15
of this Act is abolished on the day on which that section is 16
repealed by the amending Act (the abolition day). 17
(2) A person who, immediately before the abolition day, held office 18
as a member of the Youth Justice Advisory Committee: 19
(a) ceases to hold office on that day, and 20
(b) is not entitled to be paid any remuneration or 21
compensation because of ceasing to hold that office. 22
(3) Nothing in the clause prevents the Minister from convening one 23
or more committees (including committees constituted with 24
former members of the Youth Justice Advisory Committee) to 25
advise the Minister in relation to matters arising under this Act. 26
Page 16
Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Consequential amendment of Regulations Schedule 5
Schedule 5 Consequential amendment of 1
Regulations 2
(Section 3) 3
5.1 Freedom of Information Regulation 2005 4
Schedule 3 Public authorities 5
Omit the matter relating to the Youth Justice Advisory Committee from Part 3. 6
5.2 Young Offenders Regulation 2004 7
[1] Clause 3 Definitions and notes 8
Omit the definitions of appointed member, Committee, member and 9
nominated member from clause 3 (1). 10
[2] Part 2 Youth Justice Advisory Committee 11
Omit the Part. 12
Page 17
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