INDETERMINATE SENTENCES AND DANGEROUSNESS (FROM SERIOUS VIOLENT OFFENDERS: SENTENCING, PSYCHIATRY, AND LAW REFORM, 1991, P 81-95, SALLY-ANNE GERULL AND WILLIAM LUCAS, EDS. - SEE NCJ-147734)

• NCJ Number: 147741
• Author(s): I Campbell
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

The laws of most Australian states and territories allow for the imposition of an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment, at the Governor's Pleasure, in addition to or instead of a finite sentence.

Abstract

These provisions override the common law requirement of proportion between the crime and the punishment. There are two types of provisions. In Western Australia and Tasmania, the law does not tie preventive detention to any type of offense. However, the trial judge must consider the antecedents, character, age, or physical or mental health of the offender and the nature of the current crime. The provisions in Queensland, South Australia, and the Northern Territory link the preventive detention to a conviction on an offense of a sexual nature and two medical reports stating that the offender is incapable of proper control over sexual impulses. This article examines in detail Section 662 of the Criminal Code of Western Australia which allows judges to impose indeterminate sentences, usually in cases involving sexual or particularly violent offenses. 29 references