THE OBSTACLES THAT IMPEDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRAZIL IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA A...
International and comparative sentencing
1.
2. Definitions, purposes, and rationale of
criminal sentencing
Brief notes about sentencing in our
model countries
Opening to discussion on the global
death penalty and workshop
3. Mandatory sentencing: Sentence
prescribed in law without discretion for
sentencing authority
Discretionary sentencing: Sentencing
authority can tailor sentence to
circumstances of crime or offender
› This difference is a spectrum; discretion can be
limited or guided by statute (mandatory
minimums, etc.)
› Weigh competing goals of sentencing uniformity
and consistency and the risk of overpunishment
4.
Retribution
› Punish offenders in proportion to their offense (“just
deserts,” Old English: “that which is deserved”)
Deterrence
› One less likely to commit crime if one saw harshness
of punishment
Isolation
› Premise that society must be protected from
dangerous and violent offenders
Rehabilitation
› Goal of eventually reintegrating offender into
society; divert offender from traditional punishment
5.
Every society attempts to reconcile these
aims differently, as they are culturally
and historically contingent
› For instance: Japan focuses heavily on
rehabilitation, while Saudi Arabia focuses
heavily on retribution
6.
England
› Judicial sentencing discretion: About a century
old. Consider circumstances of criminal and
offense and tailor punishment
› Increasingly committed to rehabilitation as an
aim of criminal sentencing since 1970s on the
theory that it is a cost savings for society
France
› Délits (minor violations), contraventions
(misdemeanors), felonies: three levels of
offenses, each with different sentencing aims
› Move away from imprisonment (too costly)
toward alternative sentencing schemes
7.
China
› Traditional tension between retribution and
rehabilitation (Confucian v. Legalist views)
› Emphasis on administrative punishments for lesser
violations, to educate population as to what is legal
and illegal
› Use of forced labor as sanction
› 90% of the world’s executions
Japan
› Main concern: How will a criminal punishment benefit
society?
› Procurators have very wide discretion in choosing a
sanction or not prosecuting at all
› Emphasis on rehabilitation; close-knit society ensures
that social isolation, and not corporal punishment, is
most effective
8.
Saudi Arabia
› One of the most retributivist legal systems in
the world
› Resisted demands for reform; belief that
Islamic law is fundamentally different from
Western law
› In general: Perpetrator can be harmed in
same manner and to same degree as
victim, unless pardoned or forgiven by victim
9.
10. What regional patterns appear from the
preceding map?
Why do you think these countries still use
the death penalty? Is it for the same
reasons?
Is there a correlation between
wealth/economic development and
death penalty retention?