Law in Context
Emeritus Professors Stephen Bottomley and Stephen Parker AO introduce law in a critical way to the general public, current students and those thinking of taking up the subject. They explain the Rule of Law, the Adversarial System of Justice, where law comes from, judges, juries, lawyers and many other topics, include problem areas such as access to justice.
Law in Context
Episode 20 - Punishment
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Everyone agrees that Crime and Punishment go together. But that's where the agreement ends. There are multiple aims of punishment: to inflict retribution (an eye for an eye); to deter others; to incapacitate the offender so the public is protected in the meantime; and to rehabilitate the offender so they do not re-offend after the sentence is over.
Juggling with these aims requires the judge to exercise discretion and to weigh up the aims of sentencing against the circumstances of the exact offence.
Sometimes, legislatures try to tie the hands of judges with some kind of mandatory sentence, and the whole area becomes politicised.
In this episode we discuss the aims, forms and difficulties of punishing crimes in today's world.
For more information about your hosts and the Law in Context podcast series visit our website at https://lawincontext.com.au