A new database that records decisions by judges will be used to help determine if changes are needed to ACT sentencing laws.
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The sentencing database includes details of sentences handed down by judges and magistrates since the middle of last year.
It includes data that can be used to compare the range of sentences handed down for particular offences as well as judges' sentencing remarks dating back as far as 1959.
Judges and magistrates will be able to use information on past sentences when deciding what punishment to impose on an offender.
Attorney-General Simon Corbell said the information would also help the government to monitor sentencing trends. "A sentencing database will help the government and the Legislative Assembly determine what is the most appropriate sentence for an offence and look at sentencing trends to determine whether or not sentences are being imposed in accordance with the expectation of the Parliament,'' Mr Corbell said at the launch of the database.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker welcomed the increased public scrutiny of the courts the database would enable. "My hope for this database is that as well as its use by the profession, it will provide a point for interested citizens to look at, and hopefully comprehend, the work of the court,'' Ms Walker said.
"And if so, maybe to challenge that through the democratic process.''
Ms Walker said magistrates should consider community standards when determining sentences.
"An appreciation of community standards is not best informed by a reading of the front page of some newspapers, or by listening to certain shock jocks on various radio stations,'' she said. "I have to say in this respect, I think the ACT is quite well served by its local media.''
Ms Walker said magistrates could inform themselves of community standards by using their own experiences and by being aware of intelligent debates.
Community standards should also be reflected through the democratic process that enabled people to vote for politicians who made the laws that were applied by the courts.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Helen Murrell said the database was the start of a move towards best practice in the delivery of justice in a variety of areas.
Chief Justice Murrell said there were other areas in which the ACT justice system could improve. "In particular, by introducing a comprehensive, manageable and independent structure for dealing with complaints against the judiciary,'' she said.
"And by establishing a judge-controlled body that is responsible for administering the courts independently of the executive.''
The 2012-13 ACT budget included $2.2 million over four years for the development and maintenance of the database.
Until the database was established, judges and magistrates had to rely on paper-based records to look up past sentences.