Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

CRIMINAL CODE 2002 - SECT 717

    (1)     A person (the accessory ) commits an offence if—

        (a)     someone else (the principal offender ) has committed an offence; and

        (b)     the accessory assists the principal offender—

              (i)     knowing the principal offender committed the offence; or

              (ii)     believing the principal offender committed the offence or a related offence; and

        (c)     the accessory does so with the intention of allowing the principal offender to—

              (i)     escape apprehension or prosecution; or

              (ii)     obtain, keep or dispose of the proceeds of the offence.

Maximum penalty:

        (a)     if the offence committed by the principal offender is murder—imprisonment for 20 years, 2 000 penalty units or both; or

        (b)     if the offence committed by the principal offender has a maximum penalty of at least 2 000 penalty units, imprisonment for 20 years or both (but is not murder)—1 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 15 years or both; or

        (c)     if the offence committed by the principal offender has a maximum penalty of at least 1 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 15 years or both but less than 2 000 penalty units, imprisonment for 20 years or both—700 penalty units, imprisonment for 7 years or both; or

        (d)     if the offence committed by the principal offender has a maximum penalty of at least 1 000 penalty units, imprisonment for 10 years or both but less than 1 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 15 years or both—500 penalty units, imprisonment for 5 years or both; or

        (e)     in any other case—the lesser of—

              (i)     300 penalty units, imprisonment for 3 years or both; and

              (ii)     the maximum penalty for the principal offence.

    (2)     However, if the offence the accessory believes the principal offender committed is not the offence the principal offender committed, the maximum penalty is the lesser of—

        (a)     the maximum penalty applying under subsection (1); and

        (b)     the maximum penalty that would apply under that subsection if the principal offender had committed the offence the accessory believed the principal offender had committed.

    (3)     For this section, an offence the accessory believes the principal offender committed is a related offence to the offence the principal offender committed if the circumstances in which the accessory believes the offence to have been committed are the same, or partly the same, as the circumstances in which the actual offence was committed.

    (4)     It is not an offence to attempt to commit an offence against this section.