NCJ Number
205216
Journal
Criminal Justice Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2004 Pages: 81-102
Date Published
February 2004
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article examines the way in which the serious offender provisions have been applied in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria.
Abstract
In 1993 and 1997 the Victorian government introduced changes to the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) enabling sentencers to impose longer than proportionate sentences for serious offenders in the name of protection of the community. Critics have predicted that these provisions signal the demise of proportionality in sentencing for those offenders. The results of a study of the way in which Victorian courts have interpreted and applied the “serious offender” provisions of the Act from 1993 to 2002 are explored. About 553 sentencing cases were examined in which the provisions were, or might have been applied, in the two courts in which indictable offenses are heard in Victoria -- the County Court and the Supreme Court. The results showed that proportionality is alive and well in sentencing, even for serious offenders. The overall approach of the judiciary as been one of caution and the continued application of traditional sentencing principles. The Court of Appeal has upheld proportionality as the fundamental principle, and many judges are content to stay within those boundaries. The results show considerable disparity between legislative intention and judicial practice, focusing primarily on the means by which the application of the legislation was avoided, mitigated, or ameliorated. 6 tables, 5 notes, 23 references