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Types of penalties:
1. No Conviction Recorded:
While the offence is found proved, no conviction is recorded by the court
and hence the offender does not receive a criminal record. Usually, this
penalty is only used in the case of first time offenders for summary offences.
2. Caution:
Police have the power to caution children and young persons in relation
to non violent and less serious offences. Adults also can be cautioned for
minor drug offences. A caution is informally recorded on the persons record.
3. Fine:
- Is a monetary penalty imposed by the court. The revenue raised goes to the
State
- Is the most extensively imposed penalty
- Fines must be paid within 28 days of the courts order although the
defendant can apply through the Registrar of the court for time to pay the
fine.
4. Bond: (also known as recognisances).
- A court imposed bond places limits upon an offenders behaviour for a
specified period of time. The bonds usually require that the offender be of
good behaviour and may require that the offender do other things such as
attend drug and alcohol counselling.
14. Imprisonment:
- Sentencing an offender to a full time period of imprisonment is the harshest
penalty which a court can impose.
- It is a matter for the judge or magistrate to interpret legislation and
determine the actual length of a sentence.
A judge or magistrate may also set a non-parole period. Parole is where the
offender may be released from prison prior to the expiration of their fixed
term on the basis that they have been of good behaviour while serving their
prison term, and it is considered that this good behaviour will continue out of
prison, subject to the supervision of the NSW Probation and Parole Service.
Post-sentencing considerations:
- Security classification: NSW prisons are classified according to their level of
security. Offenders are given a security ranking determined largely by the
severity of their crime. - The NSW Department of Corrective Services is
responsible for the management of inmates and prisons.
- There are three basic security levels: Maximum, medium and minimum.
- Protective Custody: to the need to protect those prisoners who are
vulnerable to attack from fellow inmates. Prisoners in protective custody are
segregated from the mainstream prison population, e.g. child sex offenders,
police serving prison terms.
- Parole: Referred to in previous discussion on parole under the heading
imprisonment. A person will only be assessed as eligible for parole if they are
judged as not posing a risk to society. The aim of parole is to encourage
prisoners to make the most of opportunities for rehabilitation with the
incentive of early release.
- Preventative Detention: The notion of preventative detention is a