What is a Section 10? (Part 1)
Welcome to this instalment of the Conditsis Expert Video series. My name is Michal Mantaj and I’m one of the directors here at Conditsis and today I’ll be talking about how it is possible to plead guilty to a criminal offence but none the less retain a clean criminal record and avoid a penalty being imposed on you.
Normally if you plead guilty to a criminal offence whether it be a traffic offence or some other kind of criminal offence, it’s automatic almost that the court will direct that a conviction be recorded against your name and your criminal record for the defence and then the court will go on to impose some kind of a penalty whether that’s imprisonment or a fine or for a traffic offence or loss of licence or some other kind of penalty.
There is however one way in which even though you plead guilty to a criminal offence, you can actually avoid those consequences following from that plea of guilty.
In essence, it’s something called a Section 10. Now let me explain firstly what a Section 10 is.
A Section 10 simply stated is, it’s a power that the court has to find that a person has committed a criminal offence including a traffic offence. But let them off without recording your conviction against their name and without imposing any real penalty on them.
There is what’s called a straight Section 10 and that’s where the court simply says that you’re discharged under Section 10, you walk out of court, there’s no criminal record, there’s no conviction, there’s no penalty and nothing else happens.
The other kind of a Section 10 is a Section 10 with a good behaviour bond. That means that the court says there will be no criminal record recorded against you.There will be no penalty. However that you will be on a good behaviour bond for the next however many months the court decides.
If you need legal advice with regard to a Section 10, or any other matter, please click here to contact Conditsis today.
