Criminal Courts & Lay People: Sentencing Aims Flashcards
What are the different kinds of aims?
Punishment of offenders
Reduction of crime
Reform and rehabilitation
Protection of the public
Reparation
How can the courts punish offenders?
Retribution
Denunciation
What is retribution?
Punish offender for act committed
Proportionate to crime committed
Seeks revenge
What is denunciation?
Society expresses its disapproval
Disproportionate to the crime committed
Achieve justice and reinforces moral boundaries
How can the courts reduce crime?
Individual deterrence
General deterrence
What is individual deterrence?
Reduce crime by deterring individual offenders committing same crime
Give severe penalty (prison/hefty fine)
What is general deterrence?
Deter society committing crimes by passing harsh sentence
In direct conflict with retribution as offender receives sentence worse than they deserve
What are some examples of when deterring sentences were imposed?
Lord Woolf 2002 - recommended a min of 6 months imprisonment for mobile phone theft
What is reform and rehabilitation?
Looks forward, aims to reform and rehabilitate the offender through education and training, less likely to re-offend
Individualised sentences
Mainly used on younger offenders
What is protection of the public?
Incapacitation
Public protected from dangerous offenders
E.g., driving ban for dangerous drivers
What is reparation?
Give something back to the victim
Reparation to society as a whole
E.g., unpaid work
