Criminal Penalties NSW - Section 10.

In all Criminal and Traffic Law cases a Court has the discretion not to convict you but deal with you under the terms of section 10.

 “Section10” refers to section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999. This section allows a Court to discharge you without recording a conviction when you are found guilty of a charge or offence. Because there is no conviction, there is no criminal record. Additionally, there is no loss of drivers license and no other penalty. There are three types of section 10s:

• Outright dismissal – Section 10(1)(a)
• Good behaviour bond - Conditional dismissal Section 10(1)(b)
• Rehabilitation course – Conditional dismissal Section 10(1)(c)

 

Outright dismissal – Section 10(1)(a)

An outright dismissal under section 10 involves the court dismissing the offence without any conditions. The matter is completely over as soon as you walk out of the Court room.
 

Good Behaviour Bond - Conditional Dismissal, Section 10(1)(b)

A Court can dismiss a charge under s10, but at the same time put you on a good behaviour bond for up to 2 years. The bond can have any conditions which the Court wants you to abide by. At a minimum these include :

• That you be of good behaviour (that is, that you do not commit any further offences)
• That you advise the Court of any change of address and
• That you appear before the Court if called upon to do so

 

If you breach any conditions of the bond, the Court can call you up before it, revoke the bond and impose a different sentence for the offence. This is the most popular way that a court deals with an offender under section 10.
 

Section 10- with intervention program

This refers to a section 10 which is conditional on you entering an intervention program of some kind (such as the Traffic Offenders program), completing that program successfully and complying with any action plan that results from that program.
 

How to avoid a criminal record?

Courts do not give out section10’s easily. Normally a Courts will need a lot of convincing before granting you a section 10. The law says that in deciding whether to give a person a section 10, the Court must consider the following issues:

• Your age, character, record, health and mental condition.
• The trivial nature of the offence.
• Any extenuating circumstances.
• Anything else the Court think is relevant.

 

Honest and Expert advice

If you would like our honest opinion as to your chances of a Section 10 please call us on  (02) 9261 4555 . We have access to sentencing statistics for all offences and can tell you what proportion of people who plead guilty to your offence receive a section 10.
 

Things you may not have heard about a section 10

Here are some facts about a section 10 which you may not have been told about (or may have been told the wrong information):

1. If you get a section 10 with a bond, it will appear on your criminal record for the duration of the bond. While section 10 itself expressly says that it is not a conviction, under the Criminal Records Act 1991, a section 10 is actually defined as a conviction that becomes spent (that is, extinguished) as soon as the bond is finished. This means that if you need to show a clean criminal record in the near future (for example if you are about to apply for a job or travel overseas) you really need to obtain an outright section 10.

2. Demerit points from a traffic infringement remain valid despite a section 10 ruling.

3. For certain traffic offences, you can not get more than one section 10’s within a period of 5 years.

4. With some limited exceptions you do not have to disclose it to your employer or anyone else. Many people presume that if a question like this is asked, you have to answer it honestly and disclose any previous section 10s.

Section 12 of the Criminal Records Act 1991 says that you do not need to disclose a “spent conviction” to any one for any purpose. Because that act also defines a section 10 as a “spent conviction”, it can be argued that even if an employer asks you a direct question about any previous section 10’s or ‘findings of guilt”, you do not have to disclose these as long as any section10 bond has expired.

This article should not be construed as legal advice, it simply raises an argument that may or may not be endorsed by a court.