What the Judge can order
Every order the Judge can make for a first offence, from a Section 10 to the maximum fine, and what moves you up or down.
6.1The penalty provision
A first offence under s 111 carries a maximum of 20 penalty units [review]; a second or subsequent offence, 30 penalty units [review]. There is no custodial maximum for s 111 in either tier, which distinguishes it from s 110 (higher tiers) and s 112. The sentencing options are therefore those available for a fine-only offence: dismissal or conditional release order under s 10, a fine, or a conditional release order with conviction; a community correction order is theoretically available but is not imposed in practice for a first s 111 matter absent unusual features. [review: confirm no imprisonment for s 111 in any tier]
6.2The two-variable outcome
Because the offence is fine-only, the real sentencing variables are two: conviction or no conviction, and, if conviction, the length of disqualification between the minimum and the automatic period. The fine is a third variable of much less practical weight. The student should learn to state an outcome for a s 111 matter as a pair, "conviction, four months" or "s 10, CRO twelve months", because that is how Judges and practitioners think about it.
6.3The second-offence trap
The characterisation of the offence as first or second is made by reference to convictions for a "major offence" within the preceding five years [review: definition in s 4 and the five-year rule in s 9]. Major offences include PCA offences at any tier, s 112, and negligent and dangerous driving. A client with a low-range PCA conviction four years ago who now faces a s 111 charge faces it as a second offence, with a 12-month automatic and six-month minimum disqualification and a 30-penalty-unit maximum. The client will frequently not know this, and it is the practitioner's first question on receiving the CAN.
6.4Aggravating features that matter for this offence
Because the court is sentencing within a narrow range, the features that move a matter within it are correspondingly ordinary: a collision, a passenger (especially a child), driving in the course of employment, a high reading where the analysis discloses concentration [review: whether oral fluid analysis reports concentration for s 111], and any dishonesty with police at the roadside. None of these is an element; all of them are matters going to objective seriousness under the general sentencing principles in the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act.
What a practitioner records at this stage
The tier the offence is charged in; the maximum; the aggravating features on the facts sheet and whether the client accepts them.