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Criminal Justice Diversion Program

The Criminal Justice Diversion Program (CJDP) enables people to be diverted from the criminal jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court. Under s.128A Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (Vic), a Magistrate can adjourn criminal proceedings for up to 12 months to allow the defendant to participate in a CJDP. If the defendant successfully completes the diversion program, the court must discharge the defendant without any finding of guilt.

The program is mainly used for first time offenders and the following criteria must be met before a diversion can be recommended:

• the offence is triable summarily
• the defendant admits the facts
• there is sufficient evidence to gain a conviction
• a diversion is appropriate in the circumstances.

Conditions undertaken on the CJDP:

The court can require defendants diverted into the CJDP to undertake specific conditions as part of the program requirements. Program conditions include an apology to the victim, a donation or drug and alcohol treatment and counseling, among others. Defendants may be required to undertake more than one condition.

Number of people diverted into the CJDP

Description

The graph, Number of referrals and conditions for the CJDP, 2002-03 to 2007-08, presents a comparison between the number of people diverted from the Magistrates' Court and the number of conditions imposed as a part of the CJDP for each finical year.

Commentary

The number of people entering into the CJDP each year has fluctuated by small amounts since 2002-03 but with a small overall upward trend. In 2002-03 6,090 people were diverted from the Magistrates’ Court, which climbed to a high of 7,832 people in 2004-05 before declining to 7,710 people in 2007-08.

The number of conditions or orders imposed tended to rise or fall in conjunction with the number if people referred to the CJDP. As with the number of referrals, 2002-03 saw the fewest conditions imposed, at 8,287, while in 2004-05 a high of 14,016 conditions were imposed. This declined to 12,273 in 2007-08.

Explanatory notes

A number of factors, including staffing levels, transfers to the Children's Court, seasonal factors and program guidelines, can impact the overall number of people entered into the CJDP.

The number of CJDP conditions is substantially higher than the number of referrals as it is common for an offender to be given more than one condition as a part of their diversion.

CJDP conditions

Description

The graph, Conditions undertaken by people in the CJDP 2007-08, presents the types of conditions undertaken by defendants in the CJDP.

Commentary

In 2007-08, 12,273 conditions were undertaken by the 5,659 people who completed their CJDP. This was an average of 2.2 conditions per person.

The most common conditions undertaken were a donation (34%), followed by an apology to the victim (18%), a letter of gratitude to the informant (17%), and compensation to the victim (9%).

Source

Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, Department of Justice. Annual Report 2006-07.

Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, Department of Justice. Unpublished data.

Courts Statistical Services, Department of Justice (Victoria). Unpublished data.

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Author:	Sentencing Advisory Council
Place of Publication:	Melbourne
Publisher:	Sentencing Advisory Council
Date of Publication:	2008
Number of Pages:	1 1
Copyright:	State of Victoria, Sentencing Advisory Council, 2008.