Understanding of criminal justice

Understanding of criminal justice
Drawing on a range of academic sources, provide a 1500 word response to one of
the four research and writing exercise topics. These topics are based upon a key
issue that is covered in the first half of the unit.
A key component of this assessment is to illustrate your ability to conduct research.
In your response. draw on a minimum of 8 academic sources to support
your argument. These may include references to books, journal articles, government
reports and sentencing judgments.
1. The Aims of Sentencing
Choose two of the four sentencing judgments listed below. After reading the
judgment for your two chosen cases, compare the sentencing outcomes in
each case to the aims of sentencing as expressed in the Governing Principles
of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). In your response you should examine how
the sentence handed down in each of the two cases you have chosen
differentially or similarly reflects the aims of sentencing, which aims were
prioritised and why.
Choose two of the sentences judgments for the crimes of murder and
manslaughter:
• R v Robinson [2010] VSC 10
• DPP v Sherna [2009] VSC 526
• R v Fitchett [2010] VSC 393
• R v Farquharson [2010] VSC 462
In responding to this topic you should refer to the two sentencing judgments
given as well as broader literature on the aims of sentencing and trends in
sentencing for violent offences. Your response does not need to provide a
detailed overview of the circumstances of each of the cases – this should be
done briefly at the beginning of your response in 400 words (200 words per
case).
2. The Police Use of Force
The police are granted a number of powers that aim to maintain law and
order in the community. In 2009, the Victorian Office of Police Integrity
released a report – Review of the Use of Force by and against Victorian
police – that showed that between January 2003 and March 2005 there had
been 6 fatal shootings by police and that an incident involving the use of force
by Victoria police members occurred every 2.5 hours during this period.
Is the police use of force a necessary component of the job? In your response
discuss how the exercise of police use of force can be both a positive and a
limitation of discretionary policing in Victoria. In responding to this topic you
may like to consider the Victoria Police response in:
• The 2008 Shooting of Tyler Cassidy
• The 2012 East Keilor ‘Badness’ Siege
• The ongoing use of tasers by Victoria Police
In responding to this topic you can draw on media articles surrounding the
use of force in the above cases but you must also support your discussion
with reference to academic research on the benefits and limitations of the
discretionary use of force by members of the police.
3. Abolition of Imprisonment
Over the past two decades the operation of the prison system in Victoria has
been subject to ongoing debate and scrutiny. In the past 5 years, the
Victorian prison population has increased by almost 5%, with the average
cost of managing an offender in prison rising to approximately $221.00 a day.
Is this the best system of punishment?
In responding to this topic you should consider whether the prison system
should be abolished as a form of punishment in Victoria. Your response
should consider 2-3 of the following questions –
• Is prison an effective form of punishment?
• What does imprisonment achieve that other modes of punishment do not?
• What would be the consequences of abolishing the prison system?
• How would abolishing the prison system change the operation of the
Victorian criminal justice system? Would this be a positive change?
• If the prison system were to be abolished, what would be the best
alternatives for sentencing of serious offenders?
• Rather than abolition, would it be possible to implement a rehabilitative
focused prison system in Victoria?
Your response to these questions – and the overall topic – should be
supported with reference to academic research surrounding the viability of the
prison system and the need for prisons as a form of punishment.
4. The Victorian Criminal Court System
There are multiple layers to the Victorian Criminal Court System with some
courts designed specifically to deal with a particular type of offence or
offending. Why do we need specific types of Magistrates Courts and how
effective are these specialised courts?
In your answer you should focus specifically upon two of the specialised
courts within the Victorian Magistrates Court System – these may be the
Neighbourhood Justice Centre, the Family Violence Court, the Koori Court,
the Children’s Court or the Drug Court.

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