Attorney-General Robert McClelland has the opportunity to resolve an overwhelming injustice by acting on the Bryce case, where a man who could not be jailed elsewhere in Australia languishes in a Queensland jail on a federal charge. The time to act is now, Mr Attorney, CLA says.
Same crime, same time
CLA continues to lobby the Rudd government to reform laws which allow discrimination against federal prisoner based on where they committed their crime. CLA believes that like cases should be treated alike, regardless of where the crime was committed
Mr Bryce’s case demonstrates that the current sentencing regime isn’t working and produces results which bring the law into disrepute (such as a NSW import tax evasion case where a custodial sentence couldn’t be imposed despite the amount of duty evaded being nearly double that involved in Mr Bryce’s case).
The Commonwealth Attorney-General is aware of the issue but he needs to move quickly to remedy the problem. He doesn’t need to consult COAG or the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, the legislation which is throwing up these troublesome sentencing outcomes is federal, not state.
Finally, as Australia’s first legal officer, the Attorney-General needs to instruct federal prosecutors to seek consistent sentences not simply push for the harshest possible sentence available regardless of whether it is just.