Sentencing is the most exacting of judicial duties because the interests of the community, of the victim of the offence and of the offender all have to be taken into account in imposing a just penalty.

The punishment must fit both the crime and the criminal.

Many jurisdictions now authorise the sentencing judge in cases of even the most serious crimes, murder included, to impose a penalty appropriate to the circumstances. Differences in the circumstances of each offence and of each offender are unforeseeable. It is a sheer accident if a mandatory penalty is just in the particular case.

Community protection against crime is achieved far more effectively by resourcing the police than by inflicting unjust punishment on the offenders they charge.

Putting mandatory sentencing into law and locking up people in under-resourced prisons are cheap ways of satisfying a populist "law and order" cry, but they create grave risks.

There are risks to the well-being of young offenders, risks of alienation and risks to the sense of integrity of all those involved in administering criminal justice.

It is more difficult and more costly to address the underlying causes of crime - but that is the true responsibility of government."

back