This site publishes the reasons delivered by judges for the sentences imposed on offenders in the Supreme Court.
At the time an offender is sentenced in court a judge states, either orally or in writing, the reasons why a particular sentence is passed on an offender. The sentencing remarks are then placed on this website, after they have been checked for accuracy and, if necessary, edited.
The sentencing remarks are published by the Supreme Court so that members of the public have access to a complete statement of a judge's reasons for imposing a particular sentence.
Sentencing remarks will usually appear on the web site within 48 hours of delivery in court. They will remain on the web site for 28 days.
Sentencing remarks are edited to take account of suppression orders, statutory prohibitions on the identification of victims of certain offences and the identification of young offenders. Sentencing remarks may be edited if the general publication of them is likely to have an adverse impact on victims, witnesses or others connected with the proceedings.
A Judge may decline to release sentencing remarks for publication on the web site if the Judge considers that it is not possible to edit the sentencing remarks to take account of these matters.
While every effort is made to comprehensively edit the sentencing remarks, it may be a criminal offence to further publish sentencing remarks from this web site where such publication contains information or details likely to lead to the identification of certain persons in proceedings. This includes any information which may directly or indirectly lead to the identification of children who are involved in criminal proceedings and complainants in criminal sexual offences, but is not limited to those categories. You should seek legal advice before any further publication or dissemination of information contained in the sentencing remarks published on this web site.
The Supreme Court offers a subscription service, providing automatic notification of sentencing remarks sent to a nominated email account or via a RSS feed. To subscribe, select the subscription options on this page.
Any use of materials on this web site is subject to Copyright and a Disclaimer. The materials on this web site do not constitute legal advice. If you have a legal problem, you should consult a lawyer or a legal service agency.
If you are a representative of a media organisation and wish to obtain a copy of sentencing remarks which are not on this web site, contact the court's Media and Public Liaison Officer at Val.Buchanan@justice.wa.gov.au.
The Supreme Court sentencing remarks can be viewed via this link.
This site also publishes judgments of the Court of Appeal and the General Division which relate to sentencing. Those judgments will remain on the sentencing database for 28 days. After that time they will remain on the judgments database.
Sentencing in Western Australia is governed by the principles outlined in Division 1 of the Sentencing Act 1995.
The underlying principle is that the sentence imposed upon an offender must be commensurate with (i.e. appropriate to) the seriousness of the offence.
The court must determine the seriousness of an offence by considering:
Aggravating factors are those facts or circumstances which, in the court's opinion, increase the culpability (i.e. the criminal responsibility) of the offender.
Mitigating factors are those facts or circumstances, which, in the court's opinion, decrease the culpability of the offender, or decrease the extent to which the offender should be punished.
The Sentencing Act 1995, also requires that the court must not impose a sentence of imprisonment on an offender unless it decides that the seriousness of the offence is such that only imprisonment can be justified, or the protection of the community requires it. As a result, imprisonment is sometimes described as a "sentence of last resort".
The court is also bound by law to take into account any relevant guidelines for sentencing that have been given under a "guideline judgment" from a superior court. The court must also consider established principles of sentencing in the common law, such as the principle of totality.
When deciding the appropriate sentence to impose, a judge is bound by law and duty to consider only the evidence that has been put before him or her in court. A judge cannot be influenced or swayed by either "fear or favour" and instead, must undertake the calm, deliberate process of weighing-up the facts and circumstances and applying them to the law, in order to reach a just result.
The court encourages members of the public who are interested in the sentencing process to read further information about sentencing available in a booklet published by the Judicial Conference of Australia. "Judge for Yourself: A Guide to Sentencing in Australia".
