Judge foryourself
A Guide toSentencingin Australia
PUBLISHED BY THE JUDICIAL CONFERENCE OF AUSTRALIA
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Public perception of crime 3Our brutal past 4The facts behind sentencing 5Who’s who of sentencing 6Crucial role of parliaments 7Australia’s court system 8The judiciary 9Executive branch of government 10How sentences are served 11Parole Boards 12How sentences happen 13Laws that define the crime 14When does sentencing happen? 15The sentence hearing 16Purposes of sentencing 17Balancing reasons for a sentence 18Picture:WA District Court 19What sentencing laws require 20Avoiding unnecessary punishment 21The sentencing options 22Appeals against sentencing 23Sentencing and news media 24Criticisms of sentencing 25The soft on crime perception 26A case in point 27Apparent inconsistencies 28Picture:Defendant in the dock 29Prison rates / specialist courts 30Specialist courts (cont.) 31Qld drug court in session 32Mandatory sentencing 33Mandatory sentencing problems 34The ‘blunt instrument’ approach 35A vital independence 36How you can become involved 37The human face of sentencing 38-41Sentencing links 42
This booklet is published by the Judicial Conference of Australia as afree resource to members of the public who wish to gain a betterunderstanding of the system of sentencing offenders in Australia.The JCA is the national representative body for Australian judicialofficers. It has a membership of some 600 judges and magistrates, andis a non-profit organisation largely funded by its members.A number of courts,government departments and other organisationsin each state have very kindly provided photographs for use in thisbooklet. They are acknowledged in the captions below each image.This publication was made possible by generous grants from theVictoria Law Foundation,the Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria,the Judicial Commission of NSW, the Law Foundation of South Australiaand the Law Society Public Purposes Trust of Western Australia.The JCA is extremely grateful for the assistance provided by theseorganisations.
Contents About this booklet
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Reports and feature stories of crime and punishment are constantlyin the news. Criminal law, law enforcement, criminal prosecutionsand sentencing of offenders generate a great deal of public interest.Television, newspapers and radio, thrive on reporting serious oremotive criminal cases, especially if well-known people are involved,whether as offender or victim, or even both.Matters of crime and punishment fascinate the public becausecriminal behaviour is often raw, startling and - for many people inthe community - extremely unsettling and disturbing.Crime, and the way it is reported, can affect the psychological well-being of people and indeed influence their everyday lives.The high level of interest may also partly reflect the community’sexperience with the fictional treatment of crime and punishmentthrough television, cinema, books and magazines. Australiantelevision is saturated with “cops and robbers” shows – Australian,American, British and sometimes even European ones.For many people these programmes are pure entertainment, butthey may also affect people’s views about crime and punishment inthe real world. Many people are surprised to discover that theAustralian judicial system does not mirror the one they see ontelevision and the movies.They have watched American legal dramason television and understandably think our courts operate just likeAmerican ones. In fact, they are very different in many respects.Sentencing seems to attract more interest than any other aspect of the criminal justice system. When a person has broken the law andhas caused harm or distress to others, the community expects thatthe sentencing process will punish that person appropriately - that“something will be done”.
Public perception of crime
Stories involving court cases are constantly in the news
Image: JCA
American courtroom drama
Image: JCA
News reporting of sensational crime casesand “cops and robbers”shows on television, par-ticularly from overseas,can give an inaccurateimpression of the way the justice system really operates in Australia.
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