Practitioner checklist - Sentencing Juvenile Offenders
If the answer to any question is 'No', there has been a failure to implement the CROC sentencing principles in full. If the answer to any question is 'Don't know', there may have been such a failure.
- Participation
Does the young person fully understand his or her situation?
Was the young person given an opportunity to make submissions on sentencing, in person or through counsel?
Did the young person feel free to participate? - Best interests
Did the court investigate the young person's best interests?
Did the court make the best interests a primary consideration?
Was the young person's well-being a guiding factor? - Community safety
Does the sentence reinforce the child's respect for the rights of others?
Is it likely to discourage re-offending? - Rehabilitation
Does the sentence aim to rehabilitate the child?
Will it do so in fact? - Cruel, inhuman
or degrading
Is the sentence humane taking into account the young person's age, physical and mental health, family and socio-economic background, cultural affiliations, intellectual development and level of education? - Range of options
Was a range of sentencing options available to the court?
Did the court consider a range of sentencing options? - Proportionality
Is the sentence proportional both to the young person's circumstances and to the offence? - Review
Is the sentence capable of review by a higher tribunal? - Detention as
a last resort
In the case of a sentence of detention, was the sentence imposed as a measure of last resort? - Arbitrariness
In the case of a sentence of detention, is the sentence free from arbitrariness (proportional, consistent, non-discriminatory, compatible with the principles of justice, applied according to clear standards and guidelines)? - Shortest appropriate
time
In the case of a sentence of detention, is the length of the sentence the shortest which is appropriate in the individual case?
