South Australian Current Acts

[Index] [Table] [Search] [Search this Act] [Notes] [Noteup] [Previous] [Next] [Download] [Help]

CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT 1935 - SECT 171

171—Interpretation

        (1)         In this Part—

"demand" includes an implied demand;

"harm" means—

            (a)         physical or mental harm (including humiliation or serious embarrassment); or

            (b)         harm to a person's property (including economic harm);

"menace"—a person who makes a threat "menaces" the person to whom the threat is addressed (the "victim") if—

            (a)         the threat is a threat of harm to the victim or a third person (to be inflicted by the person making the threat or someone else); and

            (b)         the threat is unwarranted; and

            (c)         either—

                  (i)         the threat would be taken seriously by a reasonable person of normal stability and courage; or

                  (ii)         the victim in fact takes the threat seriously because of a particular vulnerability known to the person making the threat;

"serious offence" means an offence punishable by imprisonment;

"threat" includes an implied threat but, unless the threat is a threat of violence, does not include a threat made in the course of, or incidentally to—

            (a)         collective bargaining; or

            (b)         negotiations to secure a political or industrial advantage;

"unwarranted"—a threat is unwarranted if—

            (a)         the carrying out of the threat would (if it were carried out in the State) constitute a serious offence; or

            (b)         the making of the threat is, in the circumstances in which it is made—

                  (i)         improper according to the standards of ordinary people; and

                  (ii)         known by the person making the threat to be improper according to the standards of ordinary people.

        (2)         The question whether a defendant's conduct was improper according to the standards of ordinary people is a question of fact to be decided according to the jury's own knowledge and experience and not on the basis of evidence of those standards.



AustLII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback