LAW7043 - Sentencing

Leader: Emeritus Professor Richard Fox

Offered

City Trimester 3 2007 (Evening)

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 unit 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 research assignments (3,750 words each) (50%) or One research assignment (7,500 words): 100% (in exceptional circumstances)