sentencing/guidelines

Question 1

what are the definitions of sentence and sentencing?

Answer 1

• sentence = a declaration of the punishment decided for an offender
• sentencing = the process of declaring punishment
• punishment in the criminal justice process includes custodial sanctions (prison) and non-custodial (tagging, community service, fines)

Question 2

what are the aims of sentencing?

Answer 2

• public protection = recognising a need to distinguish between types of offences and offender
• proportionality and justice = fairness and consistency in due process
• reparation and making amends = demonstrating that public censure has occurred
• reduction of further offending and reoffending

Question 3

what are the 4 tenets of reductivism?

Answer 3

1. deterrence
2. incapacitation
3. rehabilitation
4. retribution

Question 4

what is deterrence?

Answer 4

• punishment designed to turn people away from offending
• deter by inducing fear with the punishment being seen as severe
• based on making the public think twice before offending

Question 5

what is incapacitation?

Answer 5

• physical restriction and/or confinement which removes the offender from society or targets their ability to offend
• a custodial sentence is seen as the highest form of public censure

Question 6

what is rehabilitation?

Answer 6

• a reforming process which attempts to repair or return individuals to normalcy
• the identification and treatment of individual social traits, such as a lack of socialisation or lack of education
• frequently resisted by countries due to financial cost

Question 7

what is retribution?

Answer 7

• just deserts for perceived wrongdoing
• lex talionis = eye for an eye

Question 8

what is the sentencing policies and guidelines?

Answer 8

• Criminal Justice Act 1991 = minor offences (fine), more serious (community service), serious (custodial sentencing)
• Criminal Justice Act 1993 = getting tough and prison works mentality. Previous convictions should be considered
• Crime Sentence Act 1997 = severe sentences for recidivists
• Auld report and Halliday report = recommend focus on deterrence, rehab, and increased incapacitation for recidivist offenders
• Criminal Justice Act 2003 = first stature to identify the aims of sentencing

Question 9

what is bifurcation?

Answer 9

over the past years, criminal justice legislation in England and Wales has attempted proportionate sentencing or bifurcation (the matching of punishment to offence)

Question 10

what are the current developments on legislation?

Answer 10

1. 2014 Law Commission tasked to formulate a ‘sentencing code’ to consolidate procedural law. Aims to reform, modernise and simplify sentencing procedures
2. Sentencing Act 2020 = aims to assist judges in identifying and applying the law. The aim is to reduce the risk of error and enhance the transparency of the sentencing process for the general public