The chair of the Criminal Bar Association, John Champion SC, on the Victorian government’s decision to abolish suspended sentences for certain crimes:
Take the case of an aged offender who, having spent a completely law-abiding life, commits the mercy killing of a cherished and terminally ill lifetime partner. Depending on all the known circumstances, the community may not necessarily expect such a person to serve a term of imprisonment. On the other hand, would an appropriate outcome be to impose an intensive correction order or community-based order on such an offender? The community needs to consider the possibility that such an outcome could occur if suspended sentences are abolished. Might a merciful and tolerant community, while fully recognising the sanctity of human life, accept that a sentence of imprisonment totally suspended may meet the circumstances of such cases?
Judges will make mistakes from time to time, but they’ll make far more mistakes with one hand tied behind their back.