Defence Lawyer Sydney: Crimes Act NSW (1900)

Our firm is amongst the most knowledgable lawyers with this legislation that Criminal Law firms Sydney has.

The Crimes Act (1900) NSW is legislation that contains the majority of all criminal offences in NSW. Here is some information on some of the more common offences contained in the Act:

Common Assault, Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm and/or Apprehended Violence Orders (AVO);

s. 61 of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

  • Common Assault: Whosoever assaults any person, although not occasioning actual bodily harm, shall be liable to imprisonment for two years.

s. 59 of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

  • Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm:
    • (1) Whosoever assaults any person, and thereby occasions actual bodily harm, shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.
    • (2) A person is guilty of an offence under this subsection if the person commits an offence under subsection (1) in the company of another person or persons. A person convicted of an offence under this subsection is liable to imprisonment for 7 years.
  • Apprehended Violence Orders: The court may make specific orders preventing accused persons from contacting the alleged victim in violence related matters. These are usually made on an interim basis, whilst the case is being heard, and on a final basis at the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.

Affray;

s.93 of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

  • A person who uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another and whose conduct is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety is guilty of affray and liable to imprisonment for 10 years.
  • (2) If 2 or more persons use or threaten the unlawful violence, it is the conduct of them taken together that must be considered for the purposes of subsection (1).
  • Assault Police Officer in Execution of Duty and/or Resist Police Officer in Execution of Duty;

Section 60 of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

  1. 1.Any person who assaults, stalks, harasses or intimidates a police officer while in the execution of the officer‘s duty, although no actual bodily harm is occasioned to the officer, is liable to imprisonment for 5 years.
  2. 1.Any person who assaults a police officer while in the execution of the officer‘s duty, and by the assault occasions actual bodily harm, is liable to imprisonment for 7 years.
  3. 1.Any person who maliciously by any means: (a) wounds a police officer, or (b) inflicts grievous bodily harm on a police officer, while in the execution of the officer‘s duty is liable to imprisonment for 12 years.
  4. 1.For the purposes of this section, an action is taken to be carried out in relation to a police officer while in the execution of the officer‘s duty, even though the police officer is not on duty at the time, if it is carried out: (a) as a consequence of, or in retaliation for, actions undertaken by that police officer in the execution of the officer‘s duty, or (b) because the officer is a police officer.

Wounding or Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent;

S. 33 of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

  • 1) Intent to cause grievous bodily harm, A person who:
  • (a) wounds any person, or
  • (b) causes grievous bodily harm to any person, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to that or any other person is guilty of an offence.
  • Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 25 years.

Sexual Assault and Indecent Assault;

s.61 I of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

Any person who has sexual intercourse with another person without the consent of the other person and who knows that the other person does not consent to the sexual intercourse is liable to imprisonment for 14 years.

Murder, Manslaughter or Attempted Murder

S. 18 of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

    1. Murder shall be taken to have been committed where the act of the accused, or thing by him or her omitted to be done, causing the death charged, was done or omitted with reckless indifference to human life, or with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon some person, or done in an attempt to commit, or during or immediately after the commission, by the accused, or some accomplice with him or her, of a crime punishable by imprisonment for life or for 25 years.
    2. Every other punishable homicide shall be taken to be manslaughter.
    1. No act or omission which was not malicious, or for which the accused had lawful cause or excuse, shall be within this section.
    2. No punishment or forfeiture shall be incurred by any person who kills another by misfortune only.

94 Robbery or stealing from the person

s. 94 of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

  • Whosoever:
    • robs or assaults with intent to rob any person, or
    • steals any chattel, money, or valuable security from the person of another,
    • shall, except where a greater punishment is provided by this Act, be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
  • Larceny or Shoplifting
    • The maximum penalty for Larceny, pursuant to s.117 of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) is 5 years imprisonment.
  • Goods in Custody
  • Deal with Property Suspected of being Proceeds of Crime

s.193C of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

  1. A person who deals with property that is property that there are reasonable grounds to suspect is proceeds of crime is guilty of a summary offence. Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
  2. It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under this section if the defendant satisfies the court that the defendant had no reasonable grounds for suspecting that the property was substantially derived or realised, directly or indirectly, from an act or omission constituting an offence against a law in force in the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory or another country.

Fraud Offences

s.192E of the Crimes Act NSW (1900) states:

  1. A person who, by any deception, dishonestly:
    1. obtains property belonging to another, or
    2. obtains any financial advantage or causes any financial disadvantage, is guilty of the offence of fraud.
    3. Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
  2. A person’s obtaining of property belonging to another may be dishonest even if the person is willing to pay for the property.
  3. A person may be convicted of the offence of fraud involving all or any part of a general deficiency in money or other property even though the deficiency is made up of any number of particular sums of money or items of other property that were obtained over a period of time.
  4. A conviction for the offence of fraud is an alternative verdict to a charge for the offence of larceny, or any offence that includes larceny, and a conviction for the offence of larceny, or any offence that includes larceny, is an alternative verdict to a charge for the offence of fraud.