Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts After section 14A
insert:
14B. Use of audio link for sentencing
(1) In this section
—
audio link means facilities, including telephones,
that enable, at the same time, a court at one place to hear a person at
another place and vice versa;
non-custodial sentence means a sentence imposed
under Part 7, 8, 8A, 9 or 10;
video link has the meaning given in section
14A(4).
(2) A court sentencing
an offender may, on an application by the offender, direct that the offender
appear before it by audio link from a place in this State.
(3) The court must not
make a direction under subsection (2) unless all of the following
circumstances apply —
(a) the
offender has been convicted of an offence on a plea of guilty;
(b) the
court proposes to impose a non-custodial sentence on the offender in respect
of the offence;
(c) the
court is satisfied that —
(i)
the audio link is available or can reasonably be made
available; and
(ii)
the direction is in the interests of justice.
(4) The place where an
offender attends for sentencing by audio link is taken to be part of the court
for the purposes of the sentencing.
(5) An audio link must
not be used under this section if a video link is available or can reasonably
be made available.