In Australia, what does the law say about sentencing a repeat drink driver?

  • Thread starter Thread starter semj
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semj

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Do convictions in other states carry over?
If someone has already been to prison for drink driving, what does the law say regarding sentencing?

Btw, I don't agree with drink driving AT ALL, I'd like facts, not peoples opinions on drink driving.
 
From what I can see, and I don't take too much notice of these things, the sentence is pretty much up to the judge / magistrate in these cases. Penalties laid down in legislation or regulations will also vary from state to state but are likely to leave a range of options open. Penalties will most likely be in the regulations, not in the legislation.

Judges / magistrates are likely to consider out-of-state convictions if they are brought to their attention. Since police records in one state will be available to prosecutors in another I would expect that former convictions will be considered, at least relatively recent ones.

Generally driving while suspended can carry jail time, this might range from a few weeks to a few months. But not in every case. If found under the influence while driving while suspended I would expect jail time to be the sentence.

Your best bet is to search the laws of the state where the offence happened. Most of these have been on-line for a few years but I don't know how easily they can be searched. You will need Adobe as many of them are in pdf format.
 
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