South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts (1) Offences are
divided into the following classes:
(a)
summary offences;
(b)
indictable offences—comprising minor indictable offences and
major indictable offences.
(2) A summary offence
is—
(a) an
offence that is not punishable by imprisonment;
(b) an
offence for which a maximum penalty of, or including, imprisonment for two
years or less is prescribed;
(ba) an
offence against Part 4 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935
involving $2 500 or less not being—
(i)
an offence of arson or causing a bushfire; or
Note—
See sections 85 and 85B of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 .
(ii)
an offence of violence; or
(iii)
an offence that is 1 of a series of offences of the same
or a similar character involving more than $2 500 in aggregate;
(c) an
offence against Part 5 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935
involving $2 500 or less not being—
(ai) an
offence against Division 3 of that Part (robbery); or
(i)
an offence of violence; or
(ii)
an offence that is one of a series of offences of the
same or a similar character involving more than $2 500 in aggregate,
but an offence for which a maximum fine exceeding twice a Division 1 fine is
prescribed is not a summary offence.
(3) All offences apart
from summary offences are indictable and of these—
(a) the
following are minor indictable offences:
(i)
those not punishable by imprisonment but for which a
maximum fine exceeding twice a Division 1 fine is prescribed;
(ii)
those for which the maximum term of imprisonment does not
exceed 5 years;
(iii)
those for which the maximum term of imprisonment exceeds
5 years and which fall into one of the following categories:
(A) an offence involving interference with,
damage to or destruction of property where the loss resulting from commission
of the offence does not exceed $30 000;
(AB) an offence
involving a threat to interfere with, damage or destroy another person's
property where, if the threat had been carried out, the loss would not have
exceeded $30 000;
(B) an offence against section 24(2) of the
Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (recklessly causing harm to
another);
(C) an offence against section 56 of the
Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (indecent assault) (not being an
offence committed against a child under the age of 14 years);
(D) an offence involving $30 000 or
less against Part 5 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 , other
than an offence against Division 3 (robbery) or an offence of violence;
(E) an offence against section 169(1) or
170(1) of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (serious criminal
trespass etc) where the offence is a basic offence within the meaning of that
Act and the intended offence is an offence of dishonesty (not being an
offence of violence) involving $30 000 or less or an offence of
interference with, damage to or destruction of property involving $30 000
or less; and
(b) all
other indictable offences are major indictable offences.
(3a) For the purposes
of the above classifications, an offence against section 85 or Part 5 of the
Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 includes—
(a) an
offence of attempting to commit such an offence; or
(b) an
offence of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring such an offence; or
(c) an
offence of conspiring to commit such an offence; or
(d) an
offence of being an accessory after the fact to such an offence.
(4) For the purposes
of the above classifications, an offence will be taken to involve a particular
sum of money if that sum represents—
(a) the
amount or value of the benefit that the offender would have gained through
commission of the offence; or
(b) the
amount of the loss that would have resulted from commission of the offence,
assuming that the offence had been successfully completed and the offender had
escaped detection.
(5) If a law
prescribes differential maximum penalties, then for the purposes of
classifying the offence in accordance with the above rules, it will be taken
to create separate offences which are (where necessary) to be separately
classified in accordance with the above rules.
(6) Where an offence
may be either a summary offence or an indictable offence according to the
circumstances surrounding its commission, or the antecedents of the defendant,
and the offence is designated as a summary offence in the information charging
the offence, then, subject to subsection (8), the circumstances and the
defendant's antecedents will be conclusively presumed to be such as to make
the offence a summary offence.
(7) Where an offence
may be either a minor indictable offence or a major indictable offence
according to the circumstances surrounding its commission, or the antecedents
of the defendant, and the offence is classified as a minor indictable offence
in the information charging the offence, then, subject to subsection (8),
the circumstances and the defendant's antecedents will be conclusively
presumed to be such as to make the offence a minor indictable offence.
(8) A defendant may,
in accordance with the rules, challenge the classification of an offence in
the information charging the offence and for the purposes of such a challenge
the above presumptions do not apply.
(9) Where a
summary offence is erroneously dealt with as an indictable offence or a
minor indictable offence is erroneously dealt with as a major
indictable offence, the proceedings are not invalid but any penalties imposed
should conform with what would be appropriate if the offence had been
correctly classified at the inception of the proceedings.
(10) If the Act under
which an offence is created classifies an offence in a manner inconsistent
with this section, that classification prevails.