Court 'getting tough on criminals'
Posted
A victims of crime group says the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal is getting tougher on violent crime because of the decisions of its Chief Judge.
The Victims of Crime Assistance League, which is known as VOCAL, says Justice Peter McClellan, the Chief Judge at Common Law in New South Wales, has made a series of judgements criticising
the decisions of lower courts.
In several recent decisions, he has not accepted the criminals' pleas for leniency because of alcohol or drug abuse.
The vice president of VOCAL, Howard Brown, says it is a welcome change.
"As far as we are concerned, these people must take full responsibility and that seems to be something that the Court of Appeal is adopting as an approach, he said.
In another decision, the judge said young offenders who commit acts of violence which cause death have not been sentenced for long enough to deter others.
Mr Brown says Judge McClellan seems to be far more subjective on particular matters.
"He does not appear at this stage to have been biased by constant exposure to criminal matters and so as a result we see him interpreting the law in a particularly straight-laced manner," he said.
'Political trend'
The Law Society of New South Wales says it is true that judges are getting tougher on crime, but legislation, rather than individual judges are behind the change.
The president of the law society, Hugh Macken says politicians are driving the tougher approach to crime.
"The trend for the decisions of the Courts of Criminal Appeal tends to be for longer sentences," he said.
"This is reflective of intentions of Parliament, as well as a trend that the courts are developing."
