Criminal Code Amendment (Firearms Trafficking) Bill 2015
1. Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s (the Committee) inquiry into the Criminal Code Amendment (Firearms Trafficking) Bill 2015 (the Bill).
2. The Law Council acknowledges the assistance of its National Criminal Law Committee, the Bar Association of Queensland, the Queensland Law Society, the NSW Bar Association and the Law Society of South Australia in the preparation of this submission.
3. Currently, the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) (Criminal Code) imposes a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment or a fine of 2,500 penalty units, or both, for the offences of:
• trafficking firearms and firearms parts within Australia (in Division 360 of the Criminal Code), and
• trafficking firearms and firearms parts into and out of Australia (in Division 361 of the Criminal Code.
4. The Bill would amend the Criminal Code to set new mandatory minimum penalties and maximum penalties for these offences. For each of the offences in these Divisions, the following penalties would apply:
• a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment for five years, and
• maximum penalties of imprisonment for 20 years or a fine of 5,000 penalty units, or both.