What should I know about criminal law?

The area of criminal law encapsulates a range of offences. It is important to understand what offence you have been charged with and how this will impact your journey through the criminal law system.

Included below are the types of offences that Grope Hamilton Lawyers specialise in.

Summary Offences

If you are charged with a summary offence you will have to attend the Magistrates Court and the Magistrate will find whether you are guilty or non-guilty of the offence. You will then be handed down a penalty, this may come in the form of a fine or jail time.

Summary offences include but are not limited to:

• Offences with respect to police operations - such as disclosing criminal intelligence or hindering police.

• Offences against public order - such as disorderly or offensive conduct or language, trespassing and loitering.

• Offences related to weapons, liquor, tattooing, body piercing and body modification - such as the unlawful selling of knives, the possession or transportation of liquor for sale and the performance of body modification procedures on intoxicated persons.

• Drug offences - such as the manufacturing, acquisition, supply, administration or use of drugs.

Minor Indictable Offences

If you are charged with a minor indictable offence you will initially appear in the Magistrates Court and depending on how your case progresses it may move to the District or Supreme Court.

Minor indictable offences are punishable by no more than five years imprisonment.

Minor indictable offences include but are not limited to:

• Offences against the person - such as aggravated assault (assault involving the use of a weapon or against a child or partner), causing harm, stalking and indecent assault.

• Offences against property - such as property damage (where the damage is less than $30, 000 but more than $2501) and serious criminal trespass.

• Gross indecency.

• Illegal use/inference with a motor vehicle.

Major Indictable Offences

If you are charged with a major indictable offence you will initially attend the Magistrates Court for the Committal Process. The purpose of this process is to allow the Magistrate to decided whether the Director of Public Prosecutions has presented adequate evidence to support a trial in a superior court such as the Supreme or District Court. 

Offences within this category are considered the most serious kind of offence and can carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Major indictable offences include but are not limited to:

• Offences against property: theft (if property is over $30,000), aggravated robbery and aggravated trespass. 

• Serious drug offences.

• Offences against the person: murder, rape or sexual offences against children.

Road Traffic Offences

Road traffic offences include, but are not limited to, driving without wearing a seatbelt, driving while using a mobile phone and speeding.

If you are involved in one of these situations, you may be issued an expiation notice and have to pay a fine. This can also result in the loss of demerit points. 

These matters do not need to progress to Court, and usually do not, unless you wish to be prosecuted. You may elect to take this avenue if you believe you have been wrongfully charged or want to attempt to argue against your loss of demerit points to maintain your license. 

Other road traffic offences such as, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified or causing death by dangerous driving will be treated as serious offences and require court attendance. These offences can lead to imprisonment or license disqualification.