Deferral of sentence

There are many sentencing options available to a Judge or Magistrate when a person pleads guilty to criminal offences in Court. The sentencing process itself involves the consideration and weighing of many factors,¹ and often competing principles and purposes.² Frequently, Sentencing Courts will be presented with a number of factors - both those that are aggravating (tending to increase the seriousness of the offending or culpability of the offender) and mitigating (tending to reduce offence seriousness and offenders' moral culpability). This balancing act makes it no easy task to formulate a sentence which strikes the appropriate balance among all factors.

Deferral of Sentence