---
title: "Sentencing submissions and guidance letter for character referees"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/criminal-law/sentencing-submissions-and-character-reference-guide"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a20-sentencing-submissions-and-character-reference-guide"
area_id: "A20"
kind: "court-document"
ai_level: "red"
version: 1
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-17"
---

# Sentencing submissions and guidance letter for character referees

> Outline of written submissions on sentence under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), with a letter to character referees explaining what to write and the court's rule that references must not be generated…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/criminal-law/sentencing-submissions-and-character-reference-guide  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-17

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

Outline of written submissions on sentence under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), with a letter to character referees explaining what to write and the court's rule that references must not be generated by AI.

## Key facts

- Kind: Court document. A document filed or served in a court or tribunal.
- Practice area: [Criminal Law](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/criminal-law.md)
- Jurisdictions: New South Wales
- AI level: Red. Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-17
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-17 against the 6 authorities it cites, for New South Wales.

## When to use it

Use after a plea or finding of guilt in a NSW court, when preparing the defence case on sentence. The referee letter goes to each referee before they write. Not for Commonwealth offences without adding the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) Pt IB framework.

## How AI may be used

Lawyer-led. AI may index the mitigation material and table disputed facts against the facts sheet; it writes no part of a character reference and no part of anything a referee signs. Any AI help with the submissions triggers the para 16 verification duty.

**AI may:**

- Index the character references, reports and certificates the lawyer has collected, and list mitigating factors with no document behind them yet.
- Table the client's disputed facts against the police facts sheet, with paragraph references, inside a firm-approved tool.
- Build a comparables table from judgments the lawyer has selected and read.

**AI must not:**

- Must not write, rewrite, polish or summarise a character reference, and must not suggest wording to referees.
- Must not enter psychological reports, the client's instructions or admissions into a consumer AI tool.
- Must not supply sentencing authorities or statistics that the lawyer has not verified.

**The lawyer checks:**

- Each reference carries the Gen AI disclosure and the lawyer has spoken to the referee to confirm they wrote it and know of the offence.
- Every citation and reference to evidence is verified as existing, accurate and relevant, and not by AI alone (SC Gen 23 paras 16–17).
- Facts in mitigation are proved by admissible evidence on the balance of probabilities.

## Authorities

- [Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) ss 3A, 5, 21A, 22, 25D](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1999-092#sec.21A)
- [The Queen v Olbrich 1999 HCA 54; (1999) 199 CLR 270 at 27 (standard of proof of facts on sentence)](https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases-and-judgments/judgments/judgments-1998-current/queen-v-olbrich)
- [Bugmy v The Queen 2013 HCA 37 at 43–44 (effects of profound childhood deprivation)](https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases-and-judgments/judgments/judgments-1998-current/bugmy-v-queen)
- [Supreme Court of NSW Practice Note SC Gen 23 – Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) paras 6, 12–13, 16–17](https://supremecourt.nsw.gov.au/documents/Practice-and-Procedure/Practice-Notes/general/current/PN_SC_Gen_23.pdf)
- [District Court of NSW General Practice Note 2 (adopting SC Gen 23)](https://districtcourt.nsw.gov.au/documents/practice-notes/district-court-pn---general/Gen_AI_Practice_Note.pdf)
- [Local Court of NSW Practice Note – Generative Artificial Intelligence (adopting SC Gen 23 from 12 January 2026)](https://localcourt.nsw.gov.au/documents/practice-notes/other/Practice_Note_Generative_Artificial_Intelligence_Commences_12.01.26.pdf)

## Official form

[Official form](https://supremecourt.nsw.gov.au/documents/Practice-and-Procedure/Practice-Notes/general/current/PN_SC_Gen_23.pdf)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/criminal-law/sentencing-submissions-and-character-reference-guide and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*