Western Australian Current Acts

CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION ACT 2003 - SECT 16

16 .         Alleged offence: charge not determined

        (1)         This section applies if a person is charged with an alleged offence and —

            (a)         the charge is withdrawn or a nolle prosequi is entered in respect of it or the prosecution of it is discontinued; or

            (b)         the charge is dismissed without a finding as to whether the person charged is guilty or not guilty of it; or

            (c)         the person is acquitted because the prosecutor does not adduce any evidence on the charge; or

            (d)         the person dies before he or she is found guilty or not guilty of the charge; or

            (e)         for any other reason, the person is not brought to trial on the charge,

                and —

            (f)         the person charged is not otherwise charged with the alleged offence or tried for it; and

            (g)         section 15 does not apply.

        (2)         A person who suffers injury as a consequence of the commission of the alleged offence may apply for compensation for that injury and any loss also suffered.

        (3)         If a person, being a close relative of a person who dies as a consequence of the commission of the alleged offence, suffers loss as a result of the death, the personal representative of the deceased may apply for compensation for that loss.

        (4)         An assessor must not make a compensation award in respect of a compensation application made under this section unless satisfied —

            (a)         if the application is made under subsection (2) — that the claimed injury and any claimed loss has occurred and did so as a consequence of the commission of the alleged offence;

            (b)         if the application is made under subsection (3) — that the death occurred as a consequence of the commission of the alleged offence and that the claimed loss has occurred.

        (5)         If an assessor is satisfied that the person who committed the act or made the omission that constitutes the alleged offence was, at the time of the act or omission, not criminally responsible for it, the alleged offence is to be taken not to have been committed for the purposes of subsection (4) unless the person was not criminally responsible for it by reason of The Criminal Code section 27 or the Criminal Investigation (Covert Powers) Act 2012 section 27, 31 or 34.

        [Section 16 amended: No. 2 of 2008 s. 59; No. 55 of 2012 s. 115.]