This course examines how people are sentenced in Aotearoa New Zealand through focusing on specific topics in sentencing including:
1. an introduction to the sentencing process and the goals of sentencing
2. the use of guideline judgments
3. the treatment of personal and cultural information
4. the role of the judge, the prosecutor, and the defence lawyer
5. discharge without conviction applications
6. sentencing in the Youth Court
7. victims' roles in the criminal justice system
A consistent theme of the course is whether the sentencing process (as a whole and in its component parts) achieves justice.
The course will present a diverse range of perspectives from those who are participants in the criminal justice system.