Project No. 93(I)

Commenced: 2000
Completed: 2003

The law relating to contempt in the face of the court in Western Australia has some unique features. It is the only criminal offence in the state that is not a creature of statute; and it is tried by a mode of trial unlike that for any other offence.

Liability for contempt in the face of the court is based on the general concept of ‘interference with the due administration of justice’. Such a broad and potentially discretionary test can no longer be justified in light of contemporary demands to make the application of the law more certain and consistent. The Discussion Paper concludes that the existing general test be replaced by a series of specific statutory offences.