Journal article
A Principled Approach to Dead Time in the Sentencing Calculus
Adelaide Law Review, Vol.45(3), pp.612-634
2024
Abstract
Prison is the harshest sanction in our system of law. People sometimes serve prison terms for alleged offences of which they are ultimately acquitted, or their conviction is quashed on appeal. This has been described as 'dead time'. In some Australian jurisdictions, a quantified credit for the period served as dead time is applied if that person is subsequently imprisoned for another offence. This approach is, however, nationally inconsistent as offenders in some jurisdictions receive no such credit although discretion may be exercised to treat this 'dead time' as a subjective mitigatory consideration. In particular, there is a divergence between how sentencing courts treat dead time in Australia's largest jurisdictions - New South Wales and Victoria. It is untenable that the common law should remain unclear when dealing with issues that affect the liberty of citizens. We argue that sentencing courts should adopt the principle of always granting specified credit for dead time, in the absence of exceptional circumstances.
Details
- Title
- A Principled Approach to Dead Time in the Sentencing Calculus
- Authors
- Mirko Bagaric (Author) - Swinburne University of TechnologyJohn Anderson (Author) - University of Newcastle AustraliaBrendon Murphy (Author) - Australian Catholic University
- Publication details
- Adelaide Law Review, Vol.45(3), pp.612-634
- Publisher
- Adelaide Law Review Association
- Date published
- 2024
- Organisation Unit
- School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991248699102621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
1 Record Views