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The state government is set to announce a proposed blanket ban on character references at sentence hearings in a move that has drawn concern from the legal profession.
According to the state government, good character references will soon no longer be able to be used by courts as a mitigating factor at sentencing following landmark reforms set to be announced on Tuesday.
The move comes after Western Power stood down three employees who provided glowing character references for a colleague who was convicted of raping a woman during a work trip.
Jeffrey Spinner, 59, was convicted of four counts of sexual penetration without consent in April this year, and sentenced to five years jail.
He was found to have raped his colleague during a work trip after she became heavily intoxicated and vomited while the pair were having after-dinner drinks together.
During his sentencing, the court heard character references from five of his colleagues at Western Power, three men and two women.
Western Power chief executive Gair Landsborough said the three employees in question were relieved of their duties and stood down as part of an internal review process.
WA Attorney General Tony Buti said he had meetings with advocates for victim-survivors and heard how distressing it was when a criminal’s professional standing and community reputation were used to try to reduce their sentence.
“This is particularly distressing in cases of child abuse and sexual assault when a perpetrator’s friends and colleagues may be unaware of the perpetrator’s sinister behaviour,” he said.
“This is important reform was already well advanced for child abuse cases, and expanding it to ban character references for other sentencing hearings is an important next step.”
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended the removal of references in cases involving child abuse, however the state government has decided to expand this to all sentencing hearings.
WA legal practitioners have labelled the proposed WA legislation an overreach by the government, arguing there is still a place for good character references in some cases.
Perth Lawyer John Hammond character references had been a prominent part of the legal system for hundreds of years, and believed the blanket ban was “going in too hard.”
“The courts are very adept at taking into account the history of offenders and applying that to judgements,” he said.
“Character references give the court an idea of how a sentence should be applied and also give a guide to how soon a person can be rehabilitated.
“I certainly believe that it is appropriate when it comes to people convicted of sexual assault or child sex offences, but a complete ban on character references is a radical departure from a legal procedure that has been in place for hundreds of years.”
The WA government is not the first state to try and implement a blanket ban.
Earlier this year, the Victorian government announced it would remove the use of good character references at sentencing, although under the proposed legislation courts can still consider other factors when sentencing, including the chance of re-offending,
“Under our changes, courts will no longer consider evidence of ‘good character’ as a mitigating factor in sentencing,” a statement from the Victorian government read.
“This already applies in some cases of child sexual abuse – our change will make it system-wide.”
The Victorian bill was introduced this month and is currently progressing through the parliamentary stages.
WA’s bill is being drafted.
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