{"id":"tas:sr-2018-076","name":"Proclamation under the Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017","slug":"proclamation-under-the-sentencing-amendment-phasing-out-of-suspended-sentences-act-2017","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"76 of 2018","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":184723,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-2018-076-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proclamation under the Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017","content":"> Proclamation under the Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017\n\nI, the Governor in and over the State of Tasmania and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, by this my proclamation made under [section 2 of the](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2017-051#GS2@EN) [Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2017-051) fix 14 December 2018 as the day on which the provisions of that Act, except sections 8, 10 and 19, commence.\n\n3 December 2018\n\nC. WARNER\n\nGovernor\n\nBy Her Excellency's Command,\n\nELISE ARCHER\n\nMinister for Justice\n\nDisplayed and numbered in accordance with the *[Rules Publication Act 1953](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1953-050)*.\n\nNotified in the *Gazette* on 12 December 2018\n\nThis proclamation is administered in the Department of Justice.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Document Structure - Title/Header Repetition","severity":"high","reasoning":"A proclamation is a formal instrument that must contain operative text declaring when provisions come into force. This document consists entirely of repeated metadata, headers, and administrative information with zero operative legal content. A proclamation with no operative clause cannot legally proclaim anything, rendering the instrument void of legal effect on its face.","confidence":0.92,"description":"The proclamation document repeats its own title, headings, and status information sections multiple times verbatim, creating a document that appears to contain no substantive operative proclamation text whatsoever."},{"type":"other","section":"Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"A phasing-out scheme by definition implies staged implementation over time. A proclamation instrument for such a scheme that has never been modified since its initial publication raises the question of whether subsequent phase commencement dates were ever formally proclaimed, or whether the entire phasing mechanism was activated by a single proclamation - which contradicts the concept of 'phasing out'.","confidence":0.65,"description":"The document states it is 'current from 12 December 2018 to date (accessed 5 April 2026 at 17:09)' yet the file was 'last modified 12 December 2018', implying the document has never been amended or substantively updated in over 7 years despite the Sentencing Amendment Act it purports to proclaim potentially having ongoing staged commencement implications."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Title vs. Content","severity":"high","reasoning":"Under standard Australian drafting conventions and the Acts Interpretation Act 1931 (Tas), a valid proclamation must at minimum identify the provisions being commenced and the date of commencement. An instrument lacking all operative content cannot serve as the legal mechanism to bring any provision into force. Any reliance on this document as authority for commencement of the Sentencing Amendment Act provisions would be legally defective.","confidence":0.88,"description":"The instrument is titled a 'Proclamation' - a formal executive act with legal consequences - yet contains no operative words of proclamation, no commencement date declared, no authority recital, no Governor's signature block, and no schedule of provisions being brought into force."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"high","section_a":"Title: 'Proclamation under the Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017'","section_b":"Body: Entire document content consisting only of repeated administrative metadata","confidence":0.91,"description":"The instrument purports by its title to be an operative legal proclamation under a specific Act, but the body of the document contains no legal content that could constitute or evidence such a proclamation. The title and the content are fundamentally contradictory."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Status Information: 'Legislation on this site is usually updated within 3 working days after a change to the legislation'","section_b":"Authorisation: 'File last modified 12 December 2018'","confidence":0.72,"description":"The site claims timeliness of updates as a reliability assurance, yet the document itself - a proclamation for a phasing scheme - has not been updated since December 2018, raising an internal contradiction about whether the document as published is actually complete or whether content has been lost, neither of which is flagged or explained."}]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The proclamation does not change the Act's text but changes temporal scope by bringing most provisions into force on 14 December 2018 while leaving sections 8, 10 and 19 uncommenced. The Act therefore operates partially from that date; the excluded sections remain inactive until a further commencement instrument is made."},"complexity_factors":["Simple commencement instrument with a single fixed date","Explicit exclusions of sections 8, 10 and 19 create a partial commencement rather than full commencement","Power used is section 2 of the parent Act (authority to fix commencement date)","Practical effects limited to timing and application of the parent Act; no substantive amendments made by the proclamation","Potential administrative burden for courts and corrections to apply new rules from the commencement date"],"plain_english_summary":"This proclamation, made under section 2 of the Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017, sets 14 December 2018 as the day most of that Act comes into force in Tasmania, but it leaves sections 8, 10 and 19 uncommenced. Mechanically, courts, legal practitioners, corrections agencies and people facing sentence will need to apply the commenced provisions from that date, while the excluded sections have no legal effect until separately commenced."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a standard commencement instrument performing exactly the function intended — bringing an Act into force on a specified date with partial commencement. No scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision fixing a commencement date","No defined terms","No cross-references to other legislation beyond citation of the parent Act","Simple exclusion of three specific sections (8, 10, 19) with no conditional logic","Total length: approximately 150 words of substantive content"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a **commencement proclamation** — a formal government notice that brings most of a new law into effect.\n\n**What it does:**\n- The *Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017* was passed by Tasmania's Parliament to gradually abolish suspended sentences (where a convicted person avoids prison as long as they don't reoffend).\n- This proclamation, signed by the Governor on 3 December 2018, **activates the law on 14 December 2018**.\n- **Three sections are held back:** Sections 8, 10 and 19 don't start yet — they'll come later through another proclamation.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Anyone facing criminal sentencing in Tasmania from mid-December 2018 onwards.\n- Courts, lawyers, and corrections staff who apply sentencing laws.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- It marks the practical moment when the phase-out of suspended sentences actually begins. Until this proclamation was made, the Act was just words on paper — now it's legally binding."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This proclamation does exactly what its title suggests — it activates the Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017. There is no evidence of scope change from the original legislative intent. It is a narrow administrative instrument with a single purpose: setting a commencement date."},"complexity_factors":["The document itself is purely administrative — it is a commencement proclamation, not substantive legislation, so it contains virtually no complex legal content of its own","The underlying Act (Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017) is more complex, but that complexity is not reflected in this instrument","Minimal operative text — the document mainly provides metadata, version information, and administrative details rather than legal rules","The concept of a proclamation may be unfamiliar to laypeople but is mechanically straightforward"],"plain_english_summary":"This Proclamation, dated 12 December 2018, sets the commencement date for the Sentencing Amendment (Phasing Out Of Suspended Sentences) Act 2017, formally beginning the gradual elimination of suspended sentences in Tasmania.  \n\nIt means courts can no longer impose suspended sentences for offending after commencement, affecting people sentenced, judges and magistrates, and criminal lawyers — a reform intended to address inconsistency and align Tasmania with other jurisdictions."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-sentencing-amendment-phasing-out-of-suspended-sentences-act-2017","history":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-sentencing-amendment-phasing-out-of-suspended-sentences-act-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-sentencing-amendment-phasing-out-of-suspended-sentences-act-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-sentencing-amendment-phasing-out-of-suspended-sentences-act-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-sentencing-amendment-phasing-out-of-suspended-sentences-act-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-sentencing-amendment-phasing-out-of-suspended-sentences-act-2017/documents"}}