Potential consequences of breaching court orders

Potential consequences of breaching court orders

There are a variety of possibilities and punishments that are available in the event a person breaches court orders. In this article we will look at what can happen if a person breaches:

• bail;
• an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO);
• a Conditional Release Order (CRO);
• a Community Correction Order (CCO); or
• an Intensive Correction Order (ICO).

Breaching Bail

Under Section 7 of the Bail Act, Bail is defined as the authority to be at liberty for an offence or alleged offence. But what happens if you breach a bail condition? Or forget to show at your next hearing?

Under Section 78 of the Bail Act, a relevant bail authority before which an accused person is brought, may, if satisfied that the accused person has failed or was about to fail to comply with a bail acknowledgement or bail condition can vary the bail decision that applies to that person, which means that they can revoke the bail decision.

It is an offence, under Section 79 of the Bail Act, to fail to appear before a court in accordance with a bail acknowledgement, without a reasonable excuse.

Breaching an AVO

If you breach an AVO you may be arrested and charged with contravening an AVO. The police can give you a Court Attendance Notice and you will be required to attend court. Breaching an AVO constitutes a criminal offence. Should a court convict you of breaching an AVO, you may be fined $5,500 and/or sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years. If the breach involves violence, this is regarded as a serious offence, with a strong possibility of you being imprisoned.

Breaching a CRO

A CRO is an option available for sentencing less serious offences, which is shown in Section 95 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, in the maximum term of a CRO being 2 years. Should an offender fail to comply with any of the conditions of a CRO, under Section 108C of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999, may decide to take no action in respect of the failure to comply, or may vary or revoke any conditions of the order, or  impose further conditions on the CRO, or may revoke the CRO.

Breaching a CCO

A CCO is an option available for sentencing and is only available if the offence committed is punishable by imprisonment. Therefore, a CCO is a more serious sentence than a CRO. Should an offender fail to comply with any of the conditions of a CCO, under Section 107C of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999, may decide to take no action in respect of the failure to comply, or may vary or revoke any conditions of the order, or  impose further conditions on the CCO, or may revoke the CCO.

Breaching an ICO

An ICO is an extremely serious sentence, which directs that a sentence of imprisonment be served by way of intensive correction in the community, pursuant to Section 7 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999. Should an  offender breach an obligation under the ICO, the Parole Authority may record the breach and take no further action, give a formal warning to the offender, impose any conditions on the ICO, vary or revoke any conditions on the ICO, revoke the ICO, pursuant to Section 164 of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999.

Get expert advice as soon as possible

At Rep-Revive Criminal Lawyers we understand that sometimes you can accidentally breach court orders. For example, if you enter a building without knowing that a protected person is inside the building. Getting expert legal advice can be crucial, especially at an early stage in your matter, otherwise you risk an extremely unfavourable set of facts being the basis upon which a magistrate or judge determines your sentence on.