Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) When dealing with
a young person who has been found guilty of an offence, the court, in
disposing of the matter, is to apply —
(a) the
principles applying generally for disposing of charges of offences, except as
those principles are modified by this Act; and
(b) the
general principles of juvenile justice.
(2) The court is to
consider any information about the offender or the offence that may assist the
court to decide how to dispose of the matter, and in particular —
(a) the
nature and seriousness of the offence; and
(b) any
history of offences previously committed by the offender; and
(c) the
cultural background of the offender; and
(da) any
responsible parenting agreement entered into in respect of the offender under
the Children and Community Services Act 2004 section 131D; and
(d) any
order previously made by a court when disposing of a charge of an offence that
still applies to the offender, and any further order that is liable to be
imposed if the offender does not comply with the terms of any such order; and
(e) the
extent, if any, to which any person was affected as a victim of the offence.
(3) The court is to
dispose of the matter in a way that is in proportion to the seriousness of the
offence and is consistent with the treatment of other young persons who commit
offences.
(4) In deciding how to
dispose of the matter, which includes deciding the appropriate degree of
severity to be used, the court is to consider how young the offender is as a
mitigating factor.
(5) The court is to
have regard to the fact that the rehabilitation of an offender is facilitated
by —
(a) the
participation of the offender’s family; and
(b)
giving the offender opportunities to engage in educational programmes and in
employment,
but the absence of
such participation or opportunities is not to result in the offender being
dealt with more severely for the offence.
(5a) Subject to the
Road Traffic (Administration) Act 2008 section 121 and sections 5 and 10 of
the Graffiti Vandalism Act 2016 but despite any other enactment, where a
written law provides that a mandatory penalty or that a minimum penalty shall
be imposed in relation to an offence, the court dealing with a young person
for the offence is not obliged to impose such a penalty.
(6) The operation of
this section is affected by section 125.
[Section 46 amended: No. 78 of 1995 s. 145; No. 8
of 2012 s. 201; No. 23 of 2015 s. 23; No. 16 of 2016 s. 44.]