The sentencing of former NSW Liberal minister and independent MP Gareth Ward has been delayed due to complex legal arguments.

Ward appeared via video link from a Hunter correctional facility today, having been found guilty in July of sexually assaulting a 25-year-old man in 2015 and sexually abusing a 19-year-old man in 2013.

As judge Kara Shead prepared to hand down the sentence, the court was asked to consider whether Ward should be sentenced under current sentencing practices or those that applied at the time of the offences in 2013-2015.

The legal question arises from section 21B of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act, which was amended to require courts to impose sentences for sexual offences according to current sentencing practices, rather than practices in place when the offen

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