Crimes Act 1914

Part IB - Sentencing, imprisonment and release of federal offenders  

Division 5 - Conditional release on parole or licence  

Subdivision D - Discharge without conviction, conditional release and sentencing alternatives  

SECTION 20AA   Power to discharge or vary conditions of recognizance  

(1)    
Where a person has entered into a recognizance in pursuance of an order made under subsection 19B(1) or 20(1) , any of the following persons may apply to the court by which the order was made for the discharge of the recognizance or for a variation of its terms:

(a) an authorized person;

(b) the person who entered into the recognizance;

(c) a surety for the person who entered into the recognizance;

(d) a probation officer appointed in accordance with the order (in this section referred to as a probation officer ).

(2)    
Where an application is made under subsection (1) for the discharge of a recognizance, the court (whether or not constituted by the judge or magistrate who made the order in pursuance of which the recognizance was entered into) may, if it is satisfied that notice as required by subsection (5) or (6) has been given and that the conduct of the person who entered into the recognizance has been such as to make it unnecessary that he or she should remain bound by the recognizance, discharge the recognizance.

(3)    
Where an application is made under subsection (1) for a variation of the terms of a recognizance, the court (whether or not constituted by the judge or magistrate who made the order in pursuance of which the recognizance was entered into) may, if it is satisfied that notice as required by subsection (5) or (6) has been given and it thinks fit to do so, vary the terms of the recognizance in all or any of the following ways:

(a) by extending or reducing the duration of the recognizance;

(b) by altering the conditions of the recognizance;

(c) by inserting additional conditions in the recognizance;

(d) by reducing any liability to make reparation or restitution, by reducing any instalment of any reparation or restitution or by reducing the amount of, or of any instalment of, any costs, compensation or penalty; or

(e) by altering the manner in which any reparation, restitution, compensation, costs or penalty, or any instalment or any reparation, restitution, compensation, costs or penalty, is or are to be made or paid.

(4)    
The court shall not extend the duration of a recognizance beyond:

(a) in the case of a recognizance entered into in pursuance of an order made under subsection 19B(1) - the period of 3 years from the date on which the recognizance was entered into; or

(b) in the case of a recognizance entered into in pursuance of an order made under subsection 20(1) - the period of 5 years from the date on which the recognizance was entered into.

(5)    
Where an application is made under subsection (1) by an authorized person, the authorized person shall cause notice of the application and the date, time and place fixed for the hearing of the application, to be served on the person who entered into the recognizance in relation to which the application is made and:

(a) if that person has a surety in respect of the recognizance - on the surety; and

(b) if that person has a probation officer in respect of the recognizance - on the probation officer.

(6)    
Where an application is made under subsection (1) by a person other than an authorized person, the person making the application shall cause notice of the application, and of the date, time and place fixed for the hearing of the application, to be served on the Director of Public Prosecutions or, if the Director of Public Prosecutions has not established an office in the State or Territory in which the application is made, on the Director of Legal Services, in that State or Territory, in the Attorney-General's Department, and:

(a) if the application is made by the person who entered into the recognizance and that person has a surety - on the surety;

(b) if the application is made by a surety in respect of the recognizance - on the person who entered into the recognizance; or

(c) if the application is made by a probation officer in respect of the recognizance - on the person who entered into the recognizance and, if that person has a surety in respect of the recognizance, on the surety.

(7)    
Where notice of an application under subsection (1) is served on a surety, the surety is entitled to appear on the hearing of the application and seek to be released from his or her liability as a surety in respect of the recognizance.

(8)    
Subject to subsections (9) and (10), where under this section a court varies the terms of a recognizance, a person who is a surety in respect of the recognizance, and is not released by the court from his or her liability, continues to be liable as a surety in respect of the recognizance as so varied.

(9)    
Where under this section a court varies the terms of a recognizance in respect of which a person is a surety:

(a) if the recognizance is varied by extending its duration - the surety ceases to be liable after the expiration of the period for which he or she agreed to be liable when he or she became a surety;

(b) if the recognizance is varied by altering a condition - the surety is not liable in respect of non-compliance with that condition as altered; and

(c) if the recognizance is altered by the addition of a condition - the surety is not liable in respect of non-compliance with the additional condition;

unless he or she agrees to be liable in respect of the recognizance as so varied.

(10)    
Where under this section a court varies the terms of a recognizance in respect of which a person is a surety by altering a condition, the court shall give directions as to the extent (if any) to which the surety is to continue to be liable in respect of the condition as it existed before the alteration, and the surety continues to be liable in respect of the condition to that extent but not otherwise.

(11)    
Where under this section a court varies the terms of a recognizance:

(a) corresponding variations shall, by force of this subsection, be deemed to have been made to the conditions of the order in pursuance of which the recognizance was entered into; and

(b) section 20A applies to and in relation to the order, in respect of acts or things done or omitted to be done after the variation, as if references in that section to the conditions of the order were references to the conditions of the order as so deemed to be varied.

(12)    
In this section, authorized person means the Attorney-General, the Director of Public Prosecutions or a person appointed under section 69 of the Judiciary Act 1903 to prosecute indictable offences against the laws of the Commonwealth.