Government of Victoria Report on How Media Coverage Should Affect Sentencing

The Sentencing Advisory Council of the Government of Victoria in Australia has released a report entitled Should Media Coverage Affect Sentencing?

The report reviews 20 years of Australian case law dealing with high-profile media coverage of certain cases.

From the media release:

"When sentencing a person for committing a crime, Australian courts sometimes consider whether the person has already been punished outside the criminal justice system. Often referred to as ‘extra-curial punishment’, it can, for example, include job loss, family hardship, physical injury and visa cancellation. If this has occurred, the offender may receive a reduced sentence."

"One form of extra-curial punishment that has received relatively little attention is media coverage about a person’s case, especially high-profile media coverage. The question is: Should media coverage about a case entitle the offender to a reduced sentence? And if so, why and how much?"

"These were questions considered but not answered in 2001, when the High Court was divided as to whether media coverage should be able to reduce a person’s sentence. More than two decades later, the issue remains unresolved."

"It is in that context that the Council sought to better understand how courts have been navigating this complex area. We found that when Australian courts are asked to take media coverage into account in sentencing, they face uncertainty as to the basis for doing so and how much weight to give it. The report does not try to resolve these uncertainties. Instead, it reviews judicial and other commentary with the aim of encouraging further discussion by judicial officers, lawyers, journalists and the general public."

The state of Victoria is in south-eastern Australia and its capital is Melbourne.