Preparing sentencing submissions for your criminal case

Information about how to prepare submissions to give to the court when you are sentenced for a criminal offence.

What are submissions?

Submissions are what you say to the magistrate to tell them about the offence, your circumstances and what penalty you would like the magistrate to consider.

You will have a chance to make your submissions after you have entered a plea of guilty, the magistrate has read the documents provided by the police prosecutor, and the magistrate has read any documents provided by you.

You should make sure what you say is well organised and not too long. The magistrate wants to know why and how you committed the offence and what kind of person you are. This may mean giving the magistrate a lot of information about yourself, some of which you may regard as private.

If there are any details about your life which you would prefer not to talk about in front of the courtroom but which you want the magistrate to know about, you can ask the magistrate if you can hand up all or part of your submissions in writing.

When making your submissions you could use the following order: 

Circumstances of the offence
Personal history
Education history
Employment history
Financial circumstances
Evidence of good character
Criminal and driving history (if traffic offence)
Your need for a licence (if you're at risk of losing it)
Alcohol Interlock Order (if relevant)
Remorse
Court orders you would like to suggest.

You need only cover the submissions that apply to your case. 

For a list of things you may want to discuss in your submissions, see:

Checklist: Submissions (PDF, 73.4KB).

For examples of verbal and written submissions, see:

Circumstances of the offence

Although the magistrate will have read the police facts sheet, it is a good idea to summarise what happened in your own words. You should tell the magistrate when and where the offence took place and provide brief details about the circumstances of the offence.

Personal history

Your personal history includes information about:

your age
whether you are single or in a relationship
dependent children
recent personal difficulties, for example sickness, relationship breakdown, deaths, drug or alcohol issues.

Education history

Your education history includes information about:

the name of the high school you went to and what year you finished
any TAFE, university or college you are currently attending, or went to, as well as the course you did and when you finished.

Employment history

Your employment history includes information about:

how long you have worked at your current job and what you do
how long you worked at previous jobs and what you did there
if you are looking for work, what kind of work and what steps you have taken to find work.

You can also tell the court what impact you think a conviction might have on your job or future employment.

Financial circumstances

If the magistrate is considering giving you a fine, they need to know about how much you are able to pay. You should tell the magistrate:

if you are on a Centrelink benefit, for example, NewStart or the Disability Support Pension
how much you earn a week after tax
how much you pay on your mortgage or rent each week
how much you pay on bills each week
if you are paying off a loan or credit card, how much you are paying each week
how much is left over after all your expenses.

You should also tell the magistrate about your ability to pay any fine that may be imposed.

Evidence of good character

If you are 'of good character' you are a person who contributes to the community. You should tell the court about:

your involvement in the community, for example, helping an elderly neighbour, P & C activities, Army Reserve, NSW Rural Fire Service
volunteer work, for example, at the local community or neighbourhood centre, the local school, RSPCA, Surf Life Savers.

It is a good idea to get character references from any community organisations you have volunteered for.

Criminal and driving history

If you have a criminal history and/or a bad driving record, you should not deny this. You should tell the magistrate:

whether you have been charged with the same or similar offences before
if it is the first time you have been charged with the offence you are currently before the court for
how long it has been since you were last convicted or fined
if most of your offences occurred during a difficult period in your life.

Your need for a licence (if you're at risk of losing it)

Some driving offences have an automatic disqualification period as well as any other punishment such as a fine. This means if you are convicted you will not be allowed to drive for at least a minimum amount of time. Telling the magistrate about how losing your licence will impact on you or someone else, may help reduce the period of licence disqualification.

If you are concerned about losing your licence, you should get legal advice.

Depending on the offence and your traffic record, the court can also order that your vehicle be forfeited (given to the government) when you are sentenced. If you are concerned that the court will order forfeiture of your vehicle, you should get legal advice before you go to court.

Alcohol interlock order

If you have been convicted of a driving offence including alcohol after 1 February 2015, the court may make an Alcohol Interlock Order.

An Alcohol Interlock Order may be made if you have been convicted of:

a first time mid-range prescribed concentration of alcohol (PCA) on or after 3 December 2018. 
high range prescribed concentration of alcohol (PCA),
second or subsequent drink driving offence in a 5 year period,
failing to provide a breath or blood sample when requested by police, or
other serious driving offence involving alcohol.

An Alcohol Interlock Order means you will have a disqualification period during which you cannot drive. When this ends, you can apply for an interlock driver licence. If you have an interlock driver licence, you are only allowed to drive vehicles which are fitted with an approved interlock device. This device requires you to provide a breath sample before the vehicle will start.

If you do not get the interlock driver licence, you will be disqualified from driving for 5 years from the date of conviction.

The court can make an exemption order that means you do not have to obtain an interlock driver licence or interlock device at the end of your disqualification period.  

An exemption order can be made if you prove:

you do not have access to a vehicle which an interlock device can be installed, or
you have a medical condition (and evidence) that stops you from being able to provide the interlock device with enough breath to operate.

If you have been convicted of a mid range drink driving first offence, the Court may give an exemption order if you prove:

that the making of a mandatory interlock order would cause severe hardship and
that it is more appropriate for the court to make an interlock exemption in all the circumstances than the making of a mandatory interlock order.

An exemption order cannot be made just because:

you are unable to afford the costs of the interlock device
you risk losing your employment if you are unable to hold an unconditional licence, or
the registered owner of the vehicle you will be driving refuses to allow an interlock device to be installed.

For more information, see the Alcohol Interlock Program on the NSW Government website. 

If you would like to ask the magistrate for an exemption order, you should get legal advice.

Remorse

You can tell the magistrate how you feel about the offence, for example, if you are sorry you committed the offence. You should also tell the magistrate if you have apologised to the victim (if there was one), and whether you have paid for any damage you have caused. If you did pay for damage it is a good idea to bring receipts.

You can also write an apology letter to the court.