Dangerous Offenders Legislation Essay

There are sometimes conditions of bail, such as a bond, reporting to the police on a regular basis, restrictions on where the accused can go and whom they can see, and they may have to give up their passport. Bail laws create tension between the community interests and individuals’ rights and freedoms, as often certain members of the community do not deem the individual worthy of bail. This is evident through R V Silva [2014] NSWSC 148, where the accused was granted bail despite being accused of manslaughter. The government has attempted to relieve this tension by reform to the Bail Act 1978 (NSW), which enforced the Unacceptable Risk Test, preventing more serious offenders from being released on bail. The government relieves tension concerning bail laws by enacting law reform to protect society, however, this can restrict the rights and freedoms of individuals who are

A controversial aspect of the criminal justice system is the Crown’s use of discretion when it decides to make charge negotiations. This means that the crown offers the accused a lesser charge should they plead guilty to it. In doing so, the crown benefits from the assured conviction (maintaining peace and security by an efficient means) and the accused benefits from a lesser sentence. However by employing powers of discretion in this case and making a deal with offenders, is seems to be at the expense of victims as there if insufficient retribution. The case of Nannette May (2009) epitomises the concern of victims, as May was not given a chance to give evidence against her attacker due to his acceptance of a

The criminal law system encourages compliance and reduces non-compliance through an array of mechanisms, including situational and social crime prevention along with increasing police powers under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Amendment Act 2014 (LEPRA). The criminal law appears to be relatively effective in decreasing non-compliance, as the majority of people are law-abiding citizens as they enjoy the liberties and protection that a disciplined society provides. Criminal law may further encourage compliance by punishing violations of the law on behalf of society where individuals fail to comply. However, regardless of the criminal law’s efforts in reducing non-compliance, continuous defilements of the law occur frequently, causing the community to question the effectiveness of the criminal law in encouraging compliance and reducing non-compliance.

It is believed that punishment works to protect people from their criminals as it used to be seen as a fear in people’s mind to avoid inappropriate behaviour against other people, harming other people in certain ways and breaking the laws set by society or government. Punishment is a common view of human beings and they choose to behave appropriately towards their duty to follow rules set out by government laws to avoid fines or sentences. Sentencing is categorised n various degrees depending on the type and severity of crime committed, and imprisonment is considered as most common way to protect communities from its offenders and deterrent to re-offending all over the world. As Murray (1997) claims that punishment reduces crime

Prior to 28th January 2015, bail laws posed significant loopholes in the system and are deemed to be ineffective to achieve justice. Accused offenders may get away with bail based with evidence in the case if it does not seem to pose a threat to the community. The problem persists within the conditions set for their bail, as responsibility lies upon the magistrate or police to impose appropriate conditions. However, though conditions do vary, it possesses a significant risk if the conditions enforced were not strict enough, opening vulnerabilities for the accused to commit another crime, slipping through their enforced conditions.

Indefinite detention is an extremely controversial issue consisting of valid arguments on both sides of the debate; however, Queensland’s Dangerous Prisoners (Sex Offenders) Act 2003, including the amendment made to it in 2009 and part 10 of the Penalties and Sentences act 1992 (Qld) all provide a desirable outcome. These laws are scrutinized by many but evidently all contribute to the equitable way that this system functions. Although on the face of it, indefinitely detaining a prisoner may be perceived by some as infringing the fundamental rules of law, in reality extensive measures are taken through the legislative processes of these laws to ensure that a just decision is made in respects to the continuation of a detention order. By doing

Preventative Detention Orders serve as a viable alternatives to judicial trials, by allowing Police to ‘detain or restrict the movement of individuals without charge or conviction’. External reviews of PDO’s by the Law Council of Australia has deemed these measures ‘justifiably balance security and civil liberties’ by prioritizing community safety over the presumed innocence of terror

2: The large media response and support of the NSWLRC helped society see first-hand, the enormity of the ineffectiveness and failure of the laws. This, coupled with the fact that the 1978 Act was unintelligible and had no strict guidelines on who should and shouldn’t be granted bail, shows how it did not achieve even a degree of justice for the community.

To put it in another way, it is to reduce the flow of new prisoners into the system, reserving that for the more serious offenders.

These deficiencies in pro-prosecution policies as presently implemented will need to be addressed if victim endorsement of such policies is to be achieved (MacLeod, 1995).

this is not likely to cause a difference in the offenders criminal behaviour because when

[http://crime.about.com/od/death/a/mitigating.htm] Another aim of sentencing is a Deterrence. The courts mainly try to deter two types of offences, such are mobile phone theft and drug/alcohol related offences e.g. burglary. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 has introduced minimum sentences to stop people from re-offending. e.g. if offenders commit two offences, they will automatically be sentenced to life imprisonment. The city centres are using a CCTV's to deter people from offending crimes such as violence, criminal damage and shop lifting. The main goal of this aim is to deter an offender from committing a future crime by fear of the punishment. There are two different types of deterrence; individual and general deterrence. The individual deterrence is trying to deter an individual offender, those they have already committed crime from re-offending in the future, by a prison sentence, a suspended sentence or a heavy fine. This is usually a harsh sentence for not serious offenses e.g In the case of R v Whitton (1985), where a football hooligan was sentenced to life imprisonment. This should stop other hooligans from re-offend.or in the case R v Hussain (Mohammed) [2005] CA a deterrent sentence was set up in relation

Observers have noted in recent years a shift in government policy toward what is perceived as ‘redressing the balance’ in criminal justice, to be more advantageous to victims and less so to the accused. (have implications for current exclusionary rules)

The perpetrator security needs or special supervision, such as protection, cases of detention, sentenced to death, and those who have the potential chronic or aggressive behavior; or

This article ensures the prohibition on arbitrary arrest and detention. It has been a long common method to deprive a person of his liberty by imprisoning. The deprivation of liberty is used as preventive measure for further offences occurring, flight or interference with material facts or witnesses in order to fight crime and maintain internal security. Such a measure should only be allowed if used when necessary because deprivation of personal liberty places the person affected in a vulnerable position because he could be subjected to torture and inhuman and/or degrading treatment.