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We have meticulously crafted guides to aid you in drafting letters for court, ensuring that you have valuable resources to navigate your legal proceedings effectively.
Apology Letters
Writing an apology letter for your criminal or traffic case
Our team have prepared a comprehensive guide on writing an apology letter to the court in your legal case. Whilst lawyers cannot prepare these for you – this helpful guide is designed to put you in the best position possible for court.
Good Character Reference Letters
Writing good character reference letters in a criminal or traffic case
We have developed a guide to assist individuals in composing impactful character letters for court, providing valuable assistance for a loved one’s case.
Criminal Law - Applications
Bail Applications
Where a person is refused bail by the police, a person is to be brought before the court as soon reasonably possible. When brought before the court, you have the choice to make an application for bail. If granted, you will be released once all conditions imposed have been met – in most cases, within a few hours.
More about Bail Applications
The Bail Act 2013 is the legislation that governs bail in NSW. Ordinarily, a person should be granted bail by the court unless there is an unacceptable risk that they will:
- Fail to appear in court;
- Commit further offences;
- Endanger the safety of another person; or
- Interfere with witnesses and evidence.
The above 4 unacceptable risks are outlined in section 17 of the Act.
In assessing the bail concerns, the court considers numerous matters such as the nature and seriousness of the offence, the strength of the prosecution case, any history of violence or failure to comply with conditions, the length of time in custody if bail refused, a need to be free to prepare for court and obtain legal advice and more.
On a bail application, a defence lawyer will propose conditions to the court in order to mitigate any identified risk.
Criminal Law - Applications
Mental Health Applications
Where appropriate, an application can be made to the local court seeking that a person facing criminal charges be diverted away from the criminal justice system, and dealt with under the Mental Health Act instead.
More about Mental Health Applications
The magistrate has the discretion to grant or refuse the application. Where a person is refused, then the matter will proceed pursuant to the criminal justice system as usual. In order to assess the appropriateness, an application must rely on a report from a psychologist or a psychiatrist which supports the criteria under the Mental Health Act.
An application is made pursuant to Section 14 of the Mental Health Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020. Previously, the application was known as a ‘Section 32’.
The court must be satisfied of the two limbs:
Limb 1 – That a person has or had at the time of the offending, a ‘mental health impairment’ or a ‘cognitive impairment’.
Limb 2 – If the above is satisfied, the magistrate hearing the application uses their discretion as to whether it would be more appropriate to deal with the matter under the Mental Health Act, as opposed to the criminal justice system.
When determining limb 2, the magistrate will consider:
- The nature of the mental health impairment or cognitive impairment;
- The nature and seriousness of the offence;
- The criminal history of the person or whether there has been a previous mental health application before;
- Changes in your circumstances since the offence;
- Suitability of sentencing options;
- Other factors relevant.
The court can make an order for up to 12 months.
If this sounds appropriate for your particular care, or you simply want more information, please contact our office to speak with a criminal lawyer.
Criminal Law - Reports
Sentencing Assessment Report
If you have been charged with a criminal offence and either plead guilty or are found guilty by the court, your matter has to proceed to a Sentence Hearing.
More about Sentencing Assessment Report
Prior to your Sentence, your team of expert lawyers will guide you to prepare numerous documents to rely upon in mitigation.
However, if either the charge is serious or you have a prior criminal history (particularly of the same offending), the court may require a Sentencing Assessment Report before handing down the sentence. This is usually where the court is exploring alternatives to full time imprisonment or your suitability for community service work.
If the magistrate requests a sentencing assessment report, the matter will have to be adjourned for at least 6 weeks to allow for preparation by Community Corrections.
You will usually have 7 days, unless ordered differently by the court, to contact Community Corrections to arrange an interview time with them.
Your local community corrections office may require documents from you or a home visit, if necessary. This is determined on a case by case basis.
When preparing for your interview with community corrections, a non exhaustive list of questions you can expect are as follows:
- Your attitude towards the offending (in order to establish whether you have insight and accept responsibility);
- Your understanding of who the offending effects (yourself, the victim, community, police etc);
- What was going on in your life just prior to or at the time of the offending;
- What steps you have taken after the offending to address it (eg alcohol counselling, anger management etc);
- Whether you have any mental or cognitive health issues;
- If so, what you are doing to address it (if anything);
- Whether you have any addictions;
- What you do for work or study, and whether this would impact your suitability to engage in community service work;
- Where you live with the victim and what measurements are in place to reduce re-offending;
- Whether there is risk of harm to anyone else;
- Whether there are any self harm risks and is so, the extent of it;
- Whether you have any criminal history;
- Whether you have support from others in the community;
- Whether you’re willing to engage in any supervision or community service work that could be imposed by the court.
Criminal Law
Penalties for Criminal Offences
For state offences, there are various different penalties that can be imposed by a Magistrate or Judge. Generally, they are as follows (in order of least serious to most serious):
TRAFFIC LAW – Applications
Licence Appeals
Where Transport NSW or the NSW Police have suspended your license, depending on the type of license you have, it is possible to apply to the court for the removal or a reduction in your time off the road.
NSW Police Suspensions
Police can issue a notice of suspension or an immediate suspension in a variety of circumstances. It is important to speak to a lawyer about appealing a suspension and the timing of doing so.
In circumstances of an immediate police suspension, this is ordinarily in place until a person is required to attend court for a traffic offence.
There is an option to appeal the suspension prior to a court date, however a magistrate will only vary or set aside the suspension if there are ‘exceptional circumstances’. There is no specific criteria forming what ‘exceptional’ means, however this can have to do with your need for a licence, financial hardship, health and treatment requirements and other matters the court deems relevant. It is important to note that appealing the immediate license suspension may only be on a temporary basis until the conclusion of your traffic matter before the court.
Transport NSW Suspensions
Where you have paid a traffic fine or reached the limit of demerit points, you may receive a suspension from Transport NSW.
Prior to the date of the suspension, you can choose to file an appeal with the local court against your suspension.
On the court date allocated once the application has been filed, a magistrate will review the decision to suspend you. Transport NSW will provide a bundle of documents relation to your traffic circumstances. You may also wish to provide the court with a bundle of materials that can help to show the following in support of your application:
- Your personal circumstances;
- Your need for a license (ie a letter from your employer)
- Any education or rehabilitation programs you have completed (ie an accredited traffic offenders program).
After reviewing the materials and hearing submissions, the court will either:
- Allow the appeal – meaning you keep your driver license.
- Vary the suspension – the suspension period is reduced.
- Dismiss the appeal – you must serve the entire suspension period imposed by Transport NSW.
It is important to seek legal advice from lawyers who specialise in traffic appeals. Contact our team today for a free first consultation.
TRAFFIC LAW – Applications
Habitual Offender Declarations
Up until October 2017, when a driver had been convicted of 3 serious driving offences over a 5 year period, the person would be declared as a ‘Habitual Traffic Offender’ in NSW. Transport NSW would then impose a further five year license disqualification.
More about Habitual Offender Declarations
After realising that lengthy disqualification periods did not act as a deterrent to committing further offences, this program was abolished. However, when this was abolished, existing declarations were not automatically removed.
If are still subject to a habitual traffic offenders declaration, an application must be made to the court for it to be quashed.
Appropriate documentation and your traffic record needs to be filed with Transport NSW first. Once this has been listed in court, the magistrate will have to determine the request to quash with consideration to your driving history, your particular circumstances and need for a licence.
Traffic Offences
Penalties for Traffic Offences
For state offences, there are various different penalties that can be imposed by a Magistrate or Judge. Generally, they are as follows (in order of least serious to most serious):
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