R v Uong [2001] NSWDRGC 12

Drug Court of New South Wales

CITATION : R v Uong [2001] NSWDRGC 12 Regina PARTIES : -v- Uong, Van Hop FILE NUMBER(S) : 0174 of 2001 CORAM: Her Honour Senior Judge Gay Murrell SC CATCHWORDS: Drug Court Act 1998 (NSW) - Meaning of Eligible Person :- "usual place of residence" LEGISLATION CITED: CASES CITED: DATES OF HEARING: 31/10/01 DATE OF JUDGMENT: 31 October 2001

Regina: R. Shafiq, Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Offender: B. Adamovich, Legal Aid Commission (NSW)

JUDGMENT: 1. The offender has applied for admission to a Drug Court program. He could only be placed on a Drug Court program if he was an "eligible person" within the meaning of s5 of the Drug Court Act 1998.

2. The prosecution contends that the offender's is not an eligible person as his usual place of residence is outside the catchment area for the Drug Court. Section 5(1)(e) of the Act provides that in order to be an eligible person an offender must comply with any requirements imposed by the regulations. One of the requirements imposed by the regulations is that an offender's usual place of residence is in the Drug Court catchment area, which is defined by reference to various local government boundaries.

3. The offender is 19 years of age. After arriving in Australia in 1990, he resided with his family at an address in Bonnyrigg which is in the catchment area. He attended the Bonnyrigg High School. His family still resides at that address, having been there for some 11 years now. At one stage, the offender resided at an address in Cabramatta. That address appears on police records as an address for the offender but it is not contended on the part of either party that that is in fact the offender's current usual place of residence.