On the Spot Justice? The Trial of Criminal Infringement Notices by NSW Police Special Report to Parliament April 2005

This report is made pursuant to section 344 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986. In September 2002, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Penalty Notice Offences) Act 2002 commenced. The Act set up a 12-month trial which enabled police officers in 12 local area commands to issue Criminal Infringement Notices (CINs) for eight nominated criminal offences. These offences included common assault, shoplifting, offensive conduct, offensive language, and goods in custody. The fines for these CINs ranged between$150 and $400. The Act required our office to review the implementation of the CINs scheme for the trial period. One purpose of our review was to evaluate the trial before any decision was made about extending the CINs scheme. WE have recommended changes to improve the CINs scheme for police and CIN recipients. We have also made some observations and recommendations that we believe will be useful when consideration is given to extending the CINs scheme.