AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Crimes (Amendment) Act 1994
No. 46 of 1994
An Act to amend the Crimes Act 1900
[Notified in ACT Gazette S177: 7 September 1994]
The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory enacts as follows:
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Crimes (Amendment) Act 1994.
Commencement
2. (1) Sections 1, 2 and 3 commence on the day on which this Act is notified in the Gazette.
(2) The remaining provisions commence on a day, or respective days, fixed by the Minister by notice in the Gazette.
(3) If a provision referred to in subsection (2) has not commenced before the end of the period of 6 months commencing on the day on which
Principal Act
3. In this Act, “Principal Act” means the Crimes Act 1900.1
Insertion
4. After Part XI of the Principal Act the following Part is inserted:
“PART XIA—Unfitness to plead, mental illness and mental dysfunction
“Division 1—Preliminary
Application
“428A. (1) This Part ceases to have effect—
(a)if the operation of the Part is not extended—at the expiration of the period of 2 years from the commencement date; or
(b)if the operation of the Part is extended—at the expiration of the period of 4 years from the commencement date.
“(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Minister may, at any time before the expiration of the period of 2 years from the commencement date, extend the operation of this Part by notice published in the Gazette.
“(3) A notice under subsection (2) is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 10 of the Subordinate Laws Act 1989.
“(4) In this section—
‘commencement date’ means the date on which section 428B commences.
Interpretation
“428B. In this Part, unless the contrary intention appears—
‘Court’ means the Supreme Court;
‘mental dysfunction’ means a disturbance or defect, to a substantially disabling degree, of perceptual interpretation, comprehension, reasoning, learning, judgment, memory, motivation or emotion;
‘mental health order’ means a mental health order under the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994;
‘serious offence’ means—
(a)an indictable offence involving actual or threatened violence; or
(b)an offence against subsection 27 (3) or (4);
‘special hearing’ means a hearing conducted in accordance with section 428I;
‘Tribunal’ means the Mental Health Tribunal established under the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994.
Limit on detention
“428C. Nothing in this Part permits the Supreme Court or the Magistrates Court to order that an accused be detained for a period greater than the maximum period of imprisonment to which the accused, if convicted of the relevant offence in normal criminal proceedings, could have been sentenced.
Criteria for detention
“428D. For the purposes of this Part, other than Division 5, in making a decision which could include an order for detention, the Supreme Court or the Magistrates Court shall consider the following criteria:
(a)the nature and extent of the accused’s mental dysfunction, including the effect it is likely to have on…