Part 7Offences of a public nature

Part 7—Offences of a public nature 237—Definitions judicial body means a court or any tribunal, body or person invested by law with judicial or quasi-judicial powers, or with authority to make any inquiry or to receive evidence; judicial officer means a person who alone or with others constitutes a judicial body; judicial proceedings means proceedings of any judicial body; public officer means a public officer specified in Schedule 1 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 2012 (and public office has a corresponding meaning); State instrumentality means an agency or instrumentality of the Crown or any body (whether or not incorporated) that is established by or under an Act and— (a) is comprised of persons, or has a governing body comprised of persons, a majority of whom are appointed by the Governor, a Minister or an agency or instrumentality of the Crown; or (b) is subject to control or direction by a Minister. 238—Acting improperly (1) For the purposes of this Part, a public officer acts improperly, or a person acts improperly in relation to a public officer or public office, if the officer or person knowingly or recklessly acts contrary to the standards of propriety generally and reasonably expected by ordinary decent members of the community to be observed by public officers of the relevant kind, or by others in relation to public officers or public offices of the relevant kind. (2) A person will not be taken to have acted improperly for the purposes of this Part unless the person's act was such that in the circumstances of the case the imposition of a criminal sanction is warranted. (3) Without limiting the effect of subsection (2), a person will not be taken to have acted improperly for the purposes of this Part if— (a) the person acted in the honest and reasonable belief that he or she was lawfully entitled to act in the relevant manner; or (b) there was lawful authority or a reasonable excuse for the act; or (c) the act was of a trivial character and caused no significant detriment to the public interest. act includes omission or refusal or failure to act; public officer includes a former public officer. 239—General attempt offence excluded A person may not be charged with or found guilty of an offence of attempting to commit an offence against this Part. 240—Parliamentary privilege not affected Nothing in this Part derogates from Parliamentary privilege. Division 2—Impeding investigation of offences or assisting offenders 241—Impeding investigation of offences or assisting offenders (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person (the accessory) who, knowing or believing that another person (the principal offender) has committed an offence, does an act with the intention of— (a) impeding investigation of the offence; or (b) assisting the principal offender to escape apprehension or prosecution or to dispose of proceeds of the offence, (2) An accessory is not guilty of an offence against subsection (1)— (a) unless it is established that the principal offender committed— (i) the offence that the accessory knew or believed the principal offender to have committed; or (ii) some other offence committed in the same, or partly in the same, circumstances; or (b) if there is lawful authority or a reasonable excuse for the accessory's action. (3) Subject to subsection (4), the penalty for an offence against subsection (1) is— (a) where the maximum penalty for the offence established as having been committed by the principal offender is imprisonment for life—imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years; (b) where the maximum penalty for that offence is imprisonment for a term of 10 years or more (but not for life)—imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years; (c) where the maximum penalty for that offence is imprisonment for a term of 7 years or more but less than 10 years—imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years; (d) in any other case—imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a maximum penalty the same as the maximum penalty for that offence, whichever is the lesser. (4) Where the offence established as having been committed by the principal offender is not the offence that the accessory knew or believed the principal offender to have committed, the penalty for an offence against subsection (1) is whichever is the lesser of— (a) the penalty applicable under subsection (3); or (b) the penalty that would be applicable under subsection (3) if the offence that the accessory knew or believed the principal offender to have committed were the offence established as having been committed by the principal offender. (5) Where— (a) a person charged with an offence as a principal offender is found not guilty of the offence charged; but (b) the court is satisfied that another person was guilty of the offence charged (or some other offence of which the accused might on the charge be found guilty), the court may, if satisfied that the accused is guilty of an offence against subsection (1) as an accessory in relation to the offence charged (or that other offence), find the accused guilty of an offence against subsection (1). (6) An accessory may be found guilty of an offence against this section whether committed within or outside this State if a court of this State has jurisdiction to deal with the principal offender.