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Key decisions

  • Stanley v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2023] HCA 3
  • Unions NSW & Ors v State of New South Wales [2023] HCA 4

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

Jurisdictional error

In Stanley v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2023] HCA 3 (15 February 2023) the High Court was required to consider whether the failure of a sentencing judge to consider community safety before declining to make an intensive correction order (‘ICO’) under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) (‘Sentencing Procedure Act’) amounted to a jurisdictional error of law.

The appellant (‘Stanley’) is a woman with five children, a disadvantaged background and a significant employment history. In 2020, Stanley pleaded guilty to offences under the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW), those offences being: knowingly taking part in the supply of a firearm and having in her possession for supply a shortened firearm. Stanley committed the offences after she became aware that her cousin had stored firearms under her house in regional NSW. Stanley said she wanted the firearms out of her house but didn’t want to get her cousin into trouble. Stanley allowed the firearms to remain in her house for eight days and then accepted $50 on their sale.

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