Publication Policy

The Supreme Court of Tasmania has been publishing the full text of judges' sentencing remarks on its web site since April 1999. It is considered to be in the public interest to publish these comments in full for the following reasons:

• The print and electronic media are often unable to provide the full details of every sentence;
• Incomplete and edited versions of a sentence can lead to a misunderstanding of the work of the Court; and
• Without public access to the full version of the sentence the general deterrent effect of sentencing is often diminished.

The text of sentences is edited by replacing surnames with initials only when:

• It is a sexual abuse crime and publication of the offender's name could identify the victim; or
• The offender is under the age of 18 and is dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justices Act.

Judges' sentencing comments are generally published on the web site on the day that the sentence is handed down. However there will be occasions where this does not happen and the sentence is published at a later date.

The information remains on the web site for one month beforle being removed. Copies of sentences no longer on the web site can be requested by emailing the Supreme Court Library or by telephoning the Library on (03) 6233 6483.