What it does
The Sentencing Act 1995 (NT) consolidates and codifies the principles, powers and procedures governing the imposition of sentences and related orders upon offenders found guilty of criminal offences in the Northern Territory. At its core, s 5(1) enumerates the permissible purposes of sentencing: punishment that is just in all the circumstances (s 5(1)(a)), rehabilitation through court-ordered conditions (s 5(1)(b)), specific and general deterrence (s 5(1)(c)), denunciation of the conduct (s 5(1)(d)), community protection (s 5(1)(e)), or a combination of these. These purposes are not exhaustive but must guide every sentencing exercise.
The Act structures sentencing options in Part 3. Division 1 (ss 7-8) permits a court to dismiss a charge without conviction, discharge the offender with or without conviction, impose a fine, make a community correction order (with or without a fine), suspend a sentence of imprisonment wholly or partly, impose an intensive community correction order, or make any other authorised order. Division 2 (ss 9-12) allows unconditional dismissal or discharge for trivial, technical or extenuating cases where recording a conviction or imposing punishment would be inappropriate. Division 3 (ss 16-29) governs fines: the maximum fine is prescribed or, absent prescription, 20 penalty units for individuals or five times that for bodies corporate (s 29); courts must consider the offender's financial circumstances and any restitution or compensation orders (s 17(1) and (4)), may impose aggregate fines for related offences (s 18), and may order commitment in default under the Fines and Penalties (Recovery) Act 2001 with a statutory conversion rate (s 26).
Division 4 (ss 30-39D) establishes community correction orders as flexible community-based sentences not exceeding two years (s 32). Statutory conditions include no further imprisonable offence and good behaviour (s 33). Courts may add conditions such as up to 480 hours of approved project participation, domestic violence rehabilitation programs (without consent per s 34(2)), monitoring, or other appropriate conditions (s 34). Breach proceedings under ss 39A-39B allow confirmation, variation, revocation and resentencing, with records from monitoring devices admissible (s 39C) and costs of damaged devices recoverable (s 39D).