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October 04, 2004
Justice anyone?
The Lord Chief Justice has a very strange concept of the way in which crime should be punished. In fact he doesn't seem to think it should be punished at all! His recently published "guidance on sentencing" - which is more or less binding on any court below the House of Lords - suggests that a murderer who pleads guilty and show remorse should receive only a ten year sentence - and be considered for parole as early as possible!
It doesn't seem to occur to his Lordship that this is a real insult to the bereaved of the murderer's victim, and to the victim themselves. After all the bereaved have been deprived of a loved one, the victim has been deprived of life - but the murderer should be allowed to enjoy his or her liberty because they pleaded guilty. He seems to have missed the point that most of these vicious and dangerous people have only entered a guilty plea because they have no choice - the evidence is too compelling for them to try and argue their defence! This is surely the end of justice. If ever there was proof that the victim is now the criminal and the criminal the victim, this is it! The Home Secretary is said to be incandescent about this, but is seemingly powerless to reverse the Lord Chief Justice's undermining of Justice and the meaning of it. I could suggest one thing that Parliament could do to put a complete stop to this idiocy among the Judges - simply make all the current "maximum" sentences minimum sentences. And change the parole criteria so that murderers and drug dealers have their options for parole reduced to having to serve as much as possible of the sentence!
As a lawyer friend of mine once remarked - never look for Justice in a British Court, she left years ago. It is now just a grand game between opposing counsel - and the victim is ignored. It seems the Judges have ceased to be the referees and have decided to join the Defence team in every trial.
Posted by The Gray Monk at October 4, 2004 10:10 AM
Comments
Umm, some error here I fear.
The sentence for murder was is and will be life imprisonment.
At sentencing the judge also recommends a tarrif, a minimum which should be served before release on licence is allowed. Murders do NOT get parole....they get release on licence. They can be called back to serve the rest of their sentence (ie until they die). It only happens occasionally but it does happen...either someone is considered to be a danger again or they commit another, lesser crime.
The new guidance is on those minimum tarrifs.
Now, as to the substnce of whether they should be so low, you may well have a point.
Posted by: Tim Worstall at October 10, 2004 05:09 PM