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Mandatory Sentencing

Mandatory Sentencing. By Courtney. 1. Kevin was drunk. 2. Kevin is homeless and took the towel to use as a blanket 3. Kevin returned the $8 towel. Charged with petty theft, 1 year in prison Due to the Mandatory Sentencing laws of the Northern Territory. Mandatory sentencing:

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Mandatory Sentencing

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  1. Mandatory Sentencing By Courtney

  2. 1. Kevin was drunk. • 2. Kevin is homeless and took the towel to use as a blanket • 3. Kevin returned the $8 towel

  3. Charged with petty theft, 1 year in prison • Due to the Mandatory Sentencing laws of the Northern Territory

  4. Mandatory sentencing: • establishes an exact penalty for the commission of a criminal offence • Eliminates discretion • Does not allow the mitigating circumstances to be considered

  5. Mandatory Sentencing implemented in: • The Northern Territory in the Sentencing Act 1995 (NT) • Western Australia in the Criminal Code (WA)

  6. The laws in the NT were: • Unjust • Morally abhorrent • Unfairly targeted Aboriginal children • In violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

  7. The laws in NT were abolished in October 2001 as: • Indigenous people were heavily over-represented, • the length of the minimum sentence was not an adequate deterrent • and the effect on prison population was unmanageable • The mandatory sentencing laws still exist in WA

  8. Mandatory sentencing laws for assault on public officials

  9. Mandatory Sentencing laws for assaults on public officials in WA • Passed in September 2009 under the Criminal Code (WA) • Proposed following public outrage of a constable left paralysed • WA Government has ‘not applied principles of law in the proper sense’ and is ‘enacting laws that it thinks will appeal to the general population’ – Malcolm McCusker

  10. Similar laws are being proposed and debated over for QLD and TAS • As ‘assaults on police are going virtually unpunished’

  11. Conclusion • In theory, mandatory sentencing guarantees consistency • The punishment must fit the crime, circumstances must be considered • mandatory sentencing in the past has not proven to be an effective or efficient means of achieving justice for the individual and society • and its effectiveness in current criminal justice system is speculative.

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