South Australian Current Acts

SENTENCING ACT 2017 - SECT 37

37—Reduction of sentences for cooperation etc with law enforcement agency

        (1)         A court may declare a defendant to be a defendant to whom this section applies if the court is satisfied that the defendant has cooperated or undertaken to cooperate with a law enforcement agency and the cooperation—

            (a)         relates directly to combating serious and organised criminal activity; and

            (b)         is provided in exceptional circumstances; and

            (c)         contributes significantly to the public interest.

        (2)         In determining sentence for an offence or offences to which a defendant has pleaded guilty or in respect of which a defendant has been found guilty, the court may, if the defendant is the subject of a declaration under subsection (1), reduce the sentence that it would otherwise have imposed by such percentage as the court thinks appropriate in the circumstances.

        (3)         In determining the percentage by which a sentence is to be reduced under this section, the court must have regard to such of the following as may be relevant:

            (a)         if the defendant has pleaded guilty to the offence or offences—that fact and the circumstances of the plea;

            (b)         the nature and extent of the defendant's cooperation or undertaking;

            (c)         the timeliness of the cooperation or undertaking;

            (d)         the truthfulness, completeness and reliability of any information or evidence provided by the defendant;

            (e)         the evaluation (if any) by the authorities of the significance and usefulness of the defendant's cooperation or undertaking;

            (f)         any benefit that the defendant has gained or is likely to gain by reason of the cooperation or undertaking;

            (g)         the degree to which the safety of the defendant (or some other person) has been put at risk of violent retribution as a result of the defendant's cooperation or undertaking;

            (h)         whether the cooperation or undertaking concerns an offence for which the defendant is being sentenced or some other offence, whether related or unrelated (and, if related, whether the offence forms part of a criminal enterprise);

                  (i)         whether, as a consequence of the defendant's cooperation or undertaking, the defendant would be likely to suffer violent retribution while serving any term of imprisonment, or be compelled to serve any such term in particularly severe conditions;

            (j)         the nature of any steps that would be likely to be necessary to protect the defendant on release from prison;

            (k)         the likelihood that the defendant will commit further offences,

and may have regard to any other factor or principle the court thinks relevant.

        (4)         In this section—

"serious and organised criminal activity" includes any activity that may constitute a serious and organised crime offence within the meaning of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 .