The model Act should provide that two or more contraventions of duties of care may be charged as a single offence if they arise out of the same factual circumstances.
Under general principles of criminal law, it is accepted that no person should be liable to be punished twice for the same offence.365 This is explicitly stated in the WA Act.366 We note that there is a wider debate about reform of the law relating to double jeopardy, which is a relatively complex area of the law.367
Stakeholder views
The ACCI considers that there should be no double jeopardy under the model Act.368
Discussion
Subject to considerations of criminal justice policy in each jurisdiction, we consider that it would be appropriate to include in the model Act a provision along the lines of that in the WA Act. This should give greater confidence about the availability of the more stringent regime of sanctions that we recommend and reinforce the need for high levels of professionalism in the investigation of OHS matters and decisions to prosecute.
