❓ Dr. Pettitt asks about the decision-making process for High Risk Serious Offenders Act applications. The Attorney General's response details the roles of the State Solicitor, DPP, and HRSORC.
AnsweredQoN 909Legislative Council
Asked
13 October 2022
Member
Portfolio
parliamentary secretary representing the Attorney General
QuestionView source ↗
HIGH RISK SERIOUS
OFFENDERS ACT — CONTINUING DETENTION AND SUPERVISION ORDERS
909. Hon Dr BRAD PETTITT to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
Sections 35 and 36 of the High Risk
Serious Offenders Act 2020 empower the state to bring a court action to make a continuing
detention order or supervision order to certain prisoners in WA. In most cases the
State Solicitor's Office represents the state or, on rare occasions,
the Director of Public Prosecutions does so.
(1) What are the
titles of individuals empowered to make the decision to instruct the SSO and
DPP to bring high risk serious offenders applications to court, and within
which government agency do they work?
(2) What are the titles of the individuals who prepare
the briefs on information that lie behind these applications , and within
which government agency do they work?
OFFENDERS ACT — CONTINUING DETENTION AND SUPERVISION ORDERS
909. Hon Dr BRAD PETTITT to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
Sections 35 and 36 of the High Risk
Serious Offenders Act 2020 empower the state to bring a court action to make a continuing
detention order or supervision order to certain prisoners in WA. In most cases the
State Solicitor's Office represents the state or, on rare occasions,
the Director of Public Prosecutions does so.
(1) What are the
titles of individuals empowered to make the decision to instruct the SSO and
DPP to bring high risk serious offenders applications to court, and within
which government agency do they work?
(2) What are the titles of the individuals who prepare
the briefs on information that lie behind these applications , and within
which government agency do they work?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the member for some notice of the question. I provide the following long
answer that is based on information provided by the Attorney General.
(1) Under section
11 of the High Risk Serious Offenders Act 2020, the Attorney General can authorise
the Director of Public Prosecutions or the State Solicitor's Office to
make an application for a restriction order under the act. The State Solicitor
is currently authorised to make an application in accordance with the act. In
doing so the State Solicitor considers a referral provided by the High Risk
Serious Offenders Review Committee as set out below, in addition to other
factors as set out in the act. The State Solicitor is supported by individual
lawyers within SSO who are specialised in making applications under the act.
They consist of lawyers with titles of Assistant State Counsel and Senior
Assistant State Counsel.
(2) Referrals to
the State Solicitor's Office are made by the HRSORC, for consideration
of an application to the Supreme Court under the act. The HRSORC is currently
made up of a number of representatives from different
areas within the Department of Justice and a representative of the police, and
includes: the deputy commissioner of offender services, Department of
Justice; assistant commissioner of adult community corrections, Department of
Justice; superintendent, administration of adult male prisons, Department of Justice; director of offender programs and
psychological services, Department of Justice; and the executive manager
of the sex offender registry, from the police.
thank the member for some notice of the question. I provide the following long
answer that is based on information provided by the Attorney General.
(1) Under section
11 of the High Risk Serious Offenders Act 2020, the Attorney General can authorise
the Director of Public Prosecutions or the State Solicitor's Office to
make an application for a restriction order under the act. The State Solicitor
is currently authorised to make an application in accordance with the act. In
doing so the State Solicitor considers a referral provided by the High Risk
Serious Offenders Review Committee as set out below, in addition to other
factors as set out in the act. The State Solicitor is supported by individual
lawyers within SSO who are specialised in making applications under the act.
They consist of lawyers with titles of Assistant State Counsel and Senior
Assistant State Counsel.
(2) Referrals to
the State Solicitor's Office are made by the HRSORC, for consideration
of an application to the Supreme Court under the act. The HRSORC is currently
made up of a number of representatives from different
areas within the Department of Justice and a representative of the police, and
includes: the deputy commissioner of offender services, Department of
Justice; assistant commissioner of adult community corrections, Department of
Justice; superintendent, administration of adult male prisons, Department of Justice; director of offender programs and
psychological services, Department of Justice; and the executive manager
of the sex offender registry, from the police.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.