Introduction

Chapter 2 examined how sentencing works in practice and the principles that judges should apply when deliberating on what sentence to impose. There are also a range of legal rules, measures and orders that inform the selection and construction of a sentence by a judge. Given that the sentences under consideration here range from 15 years to life imprisonment, a judge must decide whether the sentence should be determinate (for example, 17 years’ imprisonment) or indeterminate (for example, life imprisonment). A judge may decide to suspend a part of a custodial sentence to incentivise the rehabilitation and reintegration of the offender. They may add a post-release supervision order to the sentence to manage the risk of reoffending on release back into the community more effectively. Where a defendant has been convicted of multiple offences, a judge has to consider whether the sentences for each offence should run concurrently or consecutively.

The sentence selected and how it is constructed has a material impact on its meaning and the reality of time served in custody. This chapter deconstructs the different rules and judicial practices that impact sentencing judge's decisions to impose a lengthy determinate sentence or a life sentence.