Number 29 — Suspended sentences in NSW

Suspended sentences in New South Wales

The sanction of suspended sentence set out under s 12 of the Criminal (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 was introduced as a sentencing option on 3 April 2000 following a recommendation of the NSW Law Reform Commission. The recommendation found that suspended sentences were very useful in situations where the seriousness of an offence was ameliorated by mitigating circumstances justifying the offender's conditional release. Suspended sentences, it was said, were appropriate in circumstances where other forms of conditional release did not allow for a sufficient element of denunciation of the offence.

Prior to 1974, a form of suspended sentence had existed but it only applied in circumstances where the offender had not previously been convicted of an indictable offence and had been convicted of a minor offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. That penalty was abolished in 1974 following a recommendation of the NSW Criminal Law Committee, which concluded that the common law bond was a superior sentencing sanction for first time offenders and that the breach provisions of suspended sentences were too restrictive.

Sufficient time has now elapsed since the reintroduction of the suspended sentence to allow meaningful examination of this sanction.

This paper is divided into two parts. Part I examines the law and use of suspended sentences in New South Wales (NSW) courts. Part II undertakes a statistical analysis and focuses on five main questions:

1. How often are suspended sentences imposed in the Local, higher and Children's Courts of NSW?
2. What types of offences attract suspended sentences most often in the Local and higher courts?
3. What is the most common duration of suspended sentences imposed by the Local and higher courts?
4. What has been the impact of suspended sentences on sentencing patterns in the Local and higher courts?
5. Has there been any "net widening" or "sentence escalation"? In other words, are judicial officers imposing suspended sentences instead of less severe sanctions such as bonds and community service orders?