Mandatory Sentencing in NSW
by Benjamin Bickford
This paper provides a discussion about the proposed Mandatory Sentencing laws that were debated in Parliament in 2014 after the “one punch” manslaughter of Kieran Loveridge in 2013.
The paper talks about the existing offence provisions and penalties available for “one-punch” offences as well as the importance of Judicial independence, discretion and individualised Sentencing in the criminal law.
It also raises some constitutional questions about the validity of mandatory sentencing, and provides some hypothetical examples to illustrate the injustice that can arise in a mandatory sentencing regime.
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