Under new WA legislation, the state’s attorney-general has the power to order serial killers and mass murders remain in jail, sometimes without judicial review.
Articles on Sentencing
Displaying 41 - 60 of 65 articles
New research found a disparity between the sentences women and men are given for offence when alcohol is an aggravating factor.
The Verdins principles affect the way offenders with mental health problems are sentenced in a court of law.
Remorse is a vital, but often overlooked and underused aspect of justice, for both the victim and the offender.
The enthusiasm around swift, certain and fair approaches to sentencing offenders may not be backed by evidence.
An overriding focus on increasing sentences may not necessarily be the best means of redressing the harm caused by sex offences.
In historic cases the potential for a sentence to rehabilitate, incapacitate or deter the offender is largely insignificant – leaving the focus solely on retribution.
The killing of a newborn baby by its mother is the most shocking of crimes - but more needs to be done to understand the mental condition of the women that do it.
The Supreme Court may soon hear a case on data-driven criminal sentencing. Research suggests that algorithms are not as good as we think they are at making these decisions.
The internet and social media have expanded the potential for more enduring forms of non-judicial punishment by way of continued denigration, humiliation and abuse.
Imposing significant restrictions on the liberty of a person found not guilty subverts the ordinary criminal justice process.
As a country that claims to uphold the human rights of all – including those before the law – Australia should take notice of international practice when it comes to life imprisonment.
The undeniable difference between men and women when it comes to committing crime should be reflected in a fundamentally different approach to the sentencing of women.
Detaining persons convicted of terrorist offences for lengthy periods after they have served their time could risk radicalising a section of the community who see the measure as unjust.
Biology is out of our control but can influence our behaviour. But should people be given shorter sentences because of their genes?
Approaches to crime that rely on punitive methods have proved to be ineffective and counter-productive. Rehabilitation programmes not only prevent crime, but are cost-effective and practical.
Sentencing policy is a mixed bag of approaches: punishment, deterrence, protection and rehabilitation. The system will remain costly and ineffective until punitive instincts give way to a more rational approach.
In May 2013, Michael Suve McDonald beat to death Lana Towers, his partner of eight years and the mother of their two children. In what is thought to be a world first, the South Australian Commissioner…
The news that Harry Roberts is to be released from prison – potentially within days – has been greeted with outrage among the police. But after 48 years in prison, it’s time the knee-jerk reactions stopped…
Alarm is spreading once again about the state of UK prisons, with reports that more than 15,000 assaults were committed by prisoners in 2013-14. Justice minister Chris Grayling might be quick to argue…
Top contributors
-
Professor of Criminology, Australian National University
-
Senior Lecturer, The University of Western Australia
-
Associate Professor, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge
-
Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology
-
Senior Lecturer, Political Science and International Relations, University of Canterbury
-
Professor (Practice), Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University
-
Emeritus Professor in Law and Criminal Justice, Adelaide University
-
Arie Freiberg is a Friend of The Conversation.
Emeritus Professor of Law, Monash University
-
Lecturer, School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University
-
Professor of Law, University of Waikato
-
Professor in Community and Criminal Justice, De Montfort University
-
Senior Lecturer in Criminology & Criminal Justice, Brunel University of London
-
Judge in Residence, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor of Psychology; Member of the Strategic Research Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University
-
Reader in Criminology, University of Liverpool