R v Duggan [2001] NSWDRGC 5

Drug Court of New South Wales

CITATION : R v Duggan [2001] NSWDRGC 5 Regina PARTIES : -v- DUGGAN, Adam John FILE NUMBER(S) : 0084 of 2001 CORAM: His Honour Judge Neil Milson CATCHWORDS: Drug Court Act 1998 (NSW) - Meaning of Eligible Person :- usual place of residence LEGISLATION CITED: Drug Court Act 1998 (NSW) CASES CITED: R v Chandler [1999] NSWDRGC 7; Chandler v DPP [2000] NSWCA 125; (2000) 113 A Crim R 196 DATES OF HEARING: 06/06/2001 DATE OF JUDGMENT: 6 June 2001

Regina - R. Shafiq, Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Offender - S. Healy, Legal Aid Commission (NSW)

JUDGMENT: Background

1. The offender before the Court is seeking entry to a Drug Court program. Before he can be sentenced and released to a program by the exercise of s7 of the Drug Court Act 1998, the Drug Court must firstly be satisfied that he is an eligible person. To be an eligible person he has to meet the criteria set out in s5 and so far as that is concerned, the relevant part is s5(1)(e), that he "satisfies such other criteria as are prescribed by the regulations." Clause 5 of the Drug Court Regulation 1999 sets out criteria that "a person must satisfy in order to be an eligible person within the meaning of the Act…" The first of those is "(a) the person's usual place of residence must be within one of the following local government areas, namely…." and a number are listed.

2. It is not disputed that at the time of Mr Duggan's arrest, and immediately before entering into police custody on or about 2 April 2001, his usual place of residence was at King's Road, Five Dock. That address is not within one of the local government areas prescribed in cl5(a) of the regulation. Since then he has been held at either the Metropolitan Reception and Remand Centre at Silverwater or Parramatta Correctional Centre. Each of those places is situated within the boundaries of one of the prescribed local government areas.