Legal- Discretion of Police and Judiciary

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Oral Presentation Legal Assess the role of discretion in achieving justice for victims, offenders and society Good morning everyone, as we all live in Australia we all have the privilege of making our own choices, having our own options and partaking in independent judgment. This is extremely relevant to the topic I will discuss today of discretion. Discretion is defined as ‘the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation’ and is not only relevant in our lives, but is of crucial importance in the decisions made by the police and judiciary. Unlike our decisions, the discretion of the police and judiciary affects justice for victims, offenders and society. However, despite these efforts justice is not always achieved. When using discretion, judges and magistrates attempt to balance the rights of the community with the rights of individuals, both the accused and the victims. However, as discretion relies on the judgment of the judge or magistrate it can often result in tensions and conflict in society. This is common involving sentencing of sexual assault cases demonstrated through the article by the Daily Telegraph headlined, ‘Paedophiles walk as their victims suffer’. The article slams the judiciary and critises their use of discretion in dealing with sex crimes. The article believes that the sentences have been too lenient and not reflecting the expectations of the community. This is further supported in the case of Richard John Annetts. This 50 Year old man was sentenced to 12-months suspended jail term with supervision from the probation and parole service. He was found guilty for possessing and filming children in the male change rooms of Ryde Aquatic Centre. This decision was greatly criticized by society who argued his actions required a harsher sentence and the discretion used by the judge was favouring the offender, and not
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