Offences under the Police Offences Act and the Criminal Code
This chapter considers the difference between minor and serious offences as well as particular charges that can be laid (from property offences, computer crimes and public offences).
Introduction
The Police Offences Act 1935 (Tas) overlaps some offences contained in the Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas)(the Criminal Code) such as assault and damaging property. Whether an alleged offender is to be charged under one rather than the other will depend upon the discretion of the prosecuting authori...
Assault
It is an offence to unlawfully assault another person. Assault can also be a crime contrary to the Criminal Code or the Police Offences Act (s35). An assault is the intentional application of force to another person without their consent, or the threat to apply such force. Under the Criminal Code...
Offences Against Property
Trespass This covers unlawful entry onto land. It often also covers situations where a person refuses to leave land, e.g. during political protests or industrial activity. Trespass is the entry without lawful excuse upon any land without the consent of the owner or occupier or the person in c...
Offences Against Public Authority
It is an offence to assault, resist or wilfully obstruct police officers when acting ‘in the execution of their duties’, and similarly with public officers and persons lawfully making arrests (s34B, POA). In practice, charges generally relate to police officers. Before a charge can be made out it...
Offences in Public Places
There are numerous provisions in the Police Offences Act 1935 (Tas) which regulate behaviour in public. Such matters almost always relate to conduct in public places or, sometimes, to behaviour visible from public places (provided that there is actually someone in the public place at the time to ...
E-crime
Computer-related fraud is an offence (s43A, POA), as is damaging computer data (s43B) and computer hacking (s43C). The penalty is up to 20 penalty units and up to 2 years in jail. If the computer fraud or hacking emanated from outside Tasmania but there is a substantial link with Tasmania, the Po...
Penalty Units
A penalty unit is a fixed amount of money. Penalty units are used to decide the amount of a fine. The current penalty unit is listed on the Department of Justice website. All fines are multiples of a penalty unit. Failure to pay a fine attracts the attention of the Monetary Penalties Enforcement ...
Page last updated 19/03/2018