Australia

On 13 March 2024, the High Court handed down judgment in the matters of Hurt v R; Delzotto v R [2024] HCA 8. In doing so, the Court unanimously dismissed both Mr Hurt’s and Mr Delzotto’s appeals and confirmed the CDPP’s approach to the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions in ss 16AAA, 16AAB and 16AAC of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth).

Corporate offenders found to be engaged in foreign bribery are likely to face higher penalties after the High Court unanimously upheld an appeal in its August 2023 decision in The King v Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. The decision is a win for the CDPP which presented arguments before the High Court. The appeal focused on the Court’s interpretation of s70.2(5)(b) of the Criminal Code (Cth) and held that the maximum penalty must be set with reference to the gross value of the benefit obtained from the offending, as opposed to the net value after the expense of the offending was offset. The ruling is also likely to affect calculating penalties under s70.2(5) of the Criminal Code in a range of cases pursuant to the Corporations Act and the Competition and Consumer Act, including cartel conduct, misleading or deceptive conduct, market manipulation and insider trading.