Penalties and Sentencing
After a plea of guilty, or if you are found guilty, the Court then decides on your sentence or criminal penalty.
These criminal penalties are the outcome that you will receive from the Judge. Obviously, the worst outcome is a term of imprisonment. At the other end of the scale is a diversion order. If you get a diversion, it will mean that you have no criminal record of any sort. In between there are various orders with the broadest one being the Community Correction Order which gives Magistrates a very wide range of sentencing options. Community Corrections Orders can be tailored to deal with whatever issues of yours need to be addressed. So, for example, a Magistrate might decide to attach a long term counselling condition to the order because they believe that will stop you from re-offending.
You will be sentenced according to your circumstances, the severity of the charges, the law pertaining to those charges and how these facts are presented to the Court by your defence lawyer.
