SECOND GROUP OF PARTSProvisions applying to sentencing courts generally

PART 4Exercise of court's discretion

CHAPTER 3Seriousness and determining sentence

Aggravating factors

69AC1F1Offences where foreign power condition met

1

This section applies where a court is considering the seriousness of an offence that—

a

is committed on or after the day on which section 19 of the National Security Act 2023 comes into force, and

b

is not an offence listed in subsection (2).

2

Those offences are—

a

an offence under the National Security Act 2023 or an inchoate offence (see section 398) in relation to any such offence;

b

a relevant electoral offence within the meaning given by section 16 of that Act (foreign interference in elections).

3

Where the foreign power condition is met in relation to the conduct that constitutes the offence, the court—

a

must treat that fact as an aggravating factor, and

b

must state in open court that the offence is so aggravated.

4

Where an offence is found to have been committed over a period of 2 or more days, or at some time during a period of 2 or more days, it must be taken for the purposes of subsection (1) to have been committed on the first of those days.

5

Section 31 of the National Security Act 2023 (meaning of foreign power condition) applies for the purposes of this section as it applies for the purposes of Part 1 of that Act.