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VICLegal StudiesQuick questions
Unit 3: Rights and justice
Quick questions on Sanctions: purposes, types and effectiveness: VCE Legal Studies
9short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the statutory purposes?Show answer
Section 5(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) enumerates the purposes for which sentences may be imposed:
What is the menu of sanctions?Show answer
In approximate order of severity:
What is aggravating and mitigating factors?Show answer
Aggravating factors increase the sentence. Examples: prior convictions, breach of trust, planning, vulnerability of victim, hate crime motivation (Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s 5(2)(daaa)).
What is effectiveness?Show answer
Just punishment and denunciation. Reasonably effective. Standard sentences anchor proportionality.
What is recent Victorian reforms?Show answer
:::tldr Sanctions in Victoria are imposed under the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). The five statutory purposes are just punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, denunciation and protection (s 5(1)). The menu of sanctions runs from discharge (s 73) to imprisonment (s 11). Sanctions reliably deliver denunciation and just punishment but recidivism limits rehabilitation and long-term community protection.
What is just punishment and denunciation?Show answer
Reasonably effective. Standard sentences anchor proportionality.
What is deterrence?Show answer
Mixed. The Sentencing Advisory Council Victoria's research, including the 2011 report on the deterrent effect of sentencing, found that the certainty of conviction is more deterrent than severity.
What is rehabilitation?Show answer
Limited. The Productivity Commission Report on Government Services 2024 reported the 2-year return-to-prison rate for adults released from Victorian prisons at around 44 percent. CCOs deliver better rehabilitation outcomes for low-risk offenders.
What is protection?Show answer
Effective while the sentence is served, but undermined by recidivism.