To What Extent Should Judges Consider The Political Climate When Sentencing Offenders
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The main aim of a judge is to apply the law to a court case and hand out a fair sentence to the criminal. Judges must look at certain things when coming to a decision; ranging from previous convictions to the nature of the offence, such as a crime such as murder would be deemed more serious compared to a crime such as petty theft. The question here is should judges consider the political climate when sentencing offenders? The political climate is the current opinions and thoughts of a populace. Lord Phillips suggested courts should even consider costs before sending a criminal to prison. In this essay I will discuss why the judges should consider the political climate when sentencing offenders and why they should not.
Judges must consider various things when sentencing offenders; judges should apply the circumstances of the case, looking at how the crime has affected the victim and by looking at the sentencing guidelines council when sentencing an offender (how long a sentence should be for a certain crime). Using the doctrine of precedent and statutory interpretation judges will often refer to previous cases; which may be binding on a previous decision. A problem with following previous decisions is that if a judge was…show more content… Firstly, if the political climate was taken into the account as this involves using the public opinion this will allow them to get involved in the legal system. Allowing the public to get involved could possibly uphold public protection as certain members of the public may feel that certain crimes deserve to have longer sentences, allowing the public to speak their opinions. Furthermore, using polls and public opinions could give judges ideas on which type of sentences to give a criminal. For example, would it be worth giving a fine to those who commit a petty crime such a shoplifting or should they be imprisoned for a short period of