NSW: Community panels should determine sentences - Hartcher

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2001
NSW: Community panels should determine sentences - Hartcher

The New South Wales Opposition says drink drivers should have their sentences determined
by a community panel rather than the judicial system.

Jail terms for drink driving offenders have reportedly fallen by nearly 30 per cent
since 1995 despite a tough-talking advertising campaign.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman CHRIS HARTCHER says one way of fixing the problem
is to allow a community panel to determine sentencing.

He says the state opposition will move a private members bill for the establishment
of a panel which would operate in a similar way to the Serious Offenders Review board.

Mr HARTCHER says a similar system has been successfully trialled in the United States.

AAP RTV ls/jjs/jh/jn

KEYWORD: DRIVERS OPPOSITION (SYDNEY)

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