Offender: A person who has been found guilty of an offence, or who has pleaded guilty to an offence (has admitted the facts of an offence). Office of Public Prosecutions: An independent statutory authority that commences, prepares and conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Parity (principle of parity): Consistency of punishment for co-offenders in a case. Parole: Supervised and conditional release of an offender from prison before the end of a prison sentence. While on parole, the offender is still serving their sentence, and is subject to conditions designed to help with their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community, and to reduce the chance of their reoffending. Parolee: An offender who has been released on parole. Parsimony (principle of parsimony): To be parsimonious is to do no more than is necessary to achieve an intended purpose. The principle of parsimony means that the sentence imposed must be no more severe than is necessary to meet the purpose or purposes of sentencing the offender. Penalty unit: Fine amounts are based on penalty units rather than specific dollar amounts. Penalty units are adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation. For the financial year 2017–18, a penalty unit is $158.57. Plea: The response by the accused to a criminal charge or – ‘guilty’ ‘not guilty’. Precedent: A decision that sets down a principle to be followed in similar cases in the future. Probation An order for a child to be supervised in the community. Probation is the least intensive supervision order available for children.
Offender: A person who has been found guilty of an offence, or who has pleaded guilty to an offence (has admitted the facts of an offence). Office of Public Prosecutions: An independent statutory authority that commences, prepares and conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Parity (principle of parity): Consistency of punishment for co-offenders in a case. Parole: Supervised and conditional release of an offender from prison before the end of a prison sentence. While on parole, the offender is still serving their sentence, and is subject to conditions designed to help with their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community, and to reduce the chance of their reoffending. Parolee: An offender who has been released on parole. Parsimony (principle of parsimony): To be parsimonious is to do no more than is necessary to achieve an intended purpose. The principle of parsimony means that the sentence imposed must be no more severe than is necessary to meet the purpose or purposes of sentencing the offender. Penalty unit: Fine amounts are based on penalty units rather than specific dollar amounts. Penalty units are adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation. For the financial year 2017–18, a penalty unit is $158.57. Plea: The response by the accused to a criminal charge – ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’. Precedent: A decision that sets down a principle to be followed in similar cases in the future. Probation An order for a child to be supervised in the community. Probation is the least intensive supervision order available for children.
A_Quick_Guide_to_Sentencing_2018.docx