People with an intellectual disability and the criminal justice system

Reference received: ​27 September 1991​ 

Report

Report 80: People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System (PDF, 1.4 MB), December 1996

Tabled in parliament: 14 May 1997

Legislative action: Bail Amendment Act 1998 Sch 1 [11]; Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Amendment Act 2005​​

Judicial citation: Public Guardian v Guardianship Board (1997) 42 NSWLR 201; R v Mailes(2001) 53 NSWLR 251 [201], [204]; R v Barton [2002] NSWCCA 233 [5]; R v Mailes (2004) ACrimR 365 (NSW CCA) [39]

Journal articles: L Byrnes, "Justice and intellectual disability" (1997) 22 Alternative Law Journal 243; B McSherry, "A review of the New South Wales Law Reform Commission's report 'People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System'" (1999) 25 Monash University Law Review 166; L Babb, "New Mental Health Criminal Procedures" (2006) 18 (1) Judicial Officers' Bulletin 1​

Issues paper

​Issues Paper 8: People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System, May 1992

Judicial citation: Champion v The Queen (1992) 64 A Crim R 244, 258

Research reports

​Research Report 3: People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System: Consultations, February 1993​

Research Report 4: People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System: Appearances Before Local Courts, February 1993

Research Report 5: People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System: Two Rural Courts (PDF, 204.9 KB), March 1996

​Discussion paper​s

​Discussion Paper 29: People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System: Policing Issues, September 1993

Discussion Paper 35: People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System: Courts and Sentencing Issues, October 1994

Judicial citation: R v Mailes (2004) 150 ACrimR 365 (NSW CCA) [39]; Muldrock v The Queen [2011] HCA 39 [50]​

Terms of reference

To inquire into and review the law and practice relating to the treatment of the intellectually disabled in the criminal justice system and matters incidental thereto; and in particular, without affecting the generality of the foregoing, to consider -

(a) whether there should be a new uniform statutory definition of "intellectual disability";

(b) whether, and to what extent, the intellectually disabled should be diverted from the criminal justice system, including consideration of the custodial and non-custodial alternatives to the sentencing and detention of the intellectually disabled;

(c) the treatment of intellectually disabled persons in police custody and in prison;

(d) the release from custody into the community of intellectually disabled persons considered dangerous;

(e) whether specialist units should be established within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Legal Aid Commission, the Corrective Services Commission, the Police Service and other related bodies, to deal with the intellectually disabled; and

(f) in so far as the law and practice relating to the treatment of the intellectually disabled is relevant to the treatment of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system, whether any recommendations should also be made in relation to the mentally ill. ​