Leach v The Queen

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAGLEESON CJGUMMOW, HAYNE, HEYDON AND CRENNAN JJMARTIN LEACH  APPELLANTANDTHE QUEEN    RESPONDENTLeach v The Queen[2007] HCA 36 February 2007D10/2006ORDERAppeal dismissed.On appeal from the Supreme Court of the Northern TerritoryRepresentationI R L Freckelton with R R Goldflam for the appellant (instructed by Legal Aid Commission of the Northern Territory)T I Pauling QC, Solicitor-General for the Northern Territory with R J Coates for the respondent (instructed by Director of Public Prosecutions (Northern Territory))Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSLeach v The Queen Statutes – Acts of Parliament – Sentencing legislation – Interpretation – Mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no non-parole period passed upon the appellant in 1984 in respect of each of two convictions for murder – The Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Act 2003 (NT) ("2003 Act") provided that life sentences for murder were taken to include a 25 year non-parole period – Section 19(1) of the 2003 Act empowered the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, on the application of the Director of Public Prosecutions, to revoke the statutory non-parole period, and, in accordance with s 19(5), to refuse to fix a non-parole period – Whether the discretion granted to the Supreme Court under s 19(5) of the 2003 Act required the Court to consider "ordinary sentencing principles", including questions of the prisoner's rehabilitation – Meaning of the word "may" in s 19(5) – Whether primary judge must be satisfied...