(1) A court sentencing
an offender must, if the offender is personally present in court or appearing
before the court by video link under section 14A, explain to the offender, in
language likely to be understood —
(a) the
effect of; and
(b) the
obligations of the offender and the consequences of not complying with them
that result from,
the sentence and any
order in addition to the sentence.
(2) If a court
sentencing an offender imposes a fixed term (as defined in section 85), the
court is to state in open court the minimum period that the offender, as a
result of the sentence and the operation of this Act, will serve in custody in
respect of the term or, if more than one term is imposed, in respect of the
aggregate of the terms.
(3) In complying with
subsection (2) a court need not take account of any other sentence of
imprisonment imposed previously on the offender which the offender is serving
or has yet to serve.
[Section 34 amended: No. 48 of 1998 s. 15; No. 50
of 2003 s. 24.]
[Section 34: modified by the
COVID-19 Response and Economic Recovery Omnibus Act 2020 (34 of 2020) Part. 4
Division 4 Subdivision 1: See endnote 2M.]