LAW7043

Sentencing ( 6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL)

Leader: Professor Richard Fox

Offered:
City First semester 2005 (On-campus)

Synopsis: Sources of sentencing law. The distribution of sentencing authority between the legislature, judiciary and executive arms of government. The control of sentencing discretion. The role of counsel in the sentencing hearing. Sentencing measures available to the courts. Forms of supervised and unsupervised release. Custodial measures. Federal and state legislation in the sentencing area and its relation to other sanctions such as that provided for under proceeds of crime legislation. Sentencing principles under Australian law and in relation to International tribunals such as the International Criminal Court.

Objectives: Students completing this course should have an understanding of the legal framework within which offenders against federal and state law in Victoria are sentenced. They will recognise the non-judicial, as well as the judicial elements of sentencing, the empirical and legal bases of sentencing practice, and will have gained an understanding of the different philosophical underpinnings of the sentencing system.

Assessment: Two written research assignments (3750 words each) (50%) or, in exceptional circumstances, one written research assignment (8000 words): 100%