CONCEPT AND PHILOSOPHY OF SENTENCING
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Abstract
Justice Cardozo, “a judge even when he is free is still not wholly free, he is not to innovate at pleasure; he is not a knight, errant roaming at will in pursuit of his own ideal of beauty and goodness; he is to draw inspiration from consecrated principles. Where a judge’s values and those prevailing in society clash, the judge must in theory, give way to the objective right”.
Justice Cardozo correctly sums up the fact that even though a Judge has immense discretion when it comes to sentencing; he cannot exercise such discretion according to his own whims and fancies. He should be guided by some specific principles so that the ends of justice can be met. Sentencing is that stage of the criminal justice system where the actual punishment of the convict is decided by the judge. Ultimately, it is through sentencing that the amount of condemnation a society has towards a criminal is reflected. It must be remembered that the choice of sentence cannot be reduced to mechanical application of some legal rules because the facts of the individual cases are different. There cannot be any stair jacket formula. But there does exist some legal principles which are to be kept in mind while sentencing. Through the views of various criminal law philosophers, these principles have taken a shape and form. In this paper, the author has dealt with the concept and philosophy of sentencing in general. Through the views of various criminal law philosophers, the object, purpose and rationale behind sentencing has been narrated. Also, there is an existing link between the philosophy of sentencing and that of punishment. The author has pointed out the link and shown how it has strengthened the purpose of sentencing.
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