A Labor backbencher has backed a push for a wide-scale review of criminal sentencing in the ACT, breaking ranks from the government's position that a review is not necessary to improve the system.
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Marisa Paterson said she believed a review would be a really practical way to address community concerns with the way criminal sentences were being imposed in the ACT.
"I do think that a review is a reasonable ask," Dr Paterson said.
Dr Paterson used a Facebook post on Monday to express support for a campaign for tougher sentencing organised by Tom McLuckie, whose son was killed in a car crash on Hindmarsh Drive earlier this year.
"I think we should always strive to improve outcomes for the community (which should have a rehabilitation focus and may very well include community correction orders, good behaviour orders etc) but the community should feel confidence in these decisions - particularly around judgments for serious criminal offences," Dr Paterson wrote on social media.
"There is work to be done."
Mr McLuckie has sought a review of criminal sentences and sentencing guidelines for "grievous and purposefully reckless" motor vehicle crimes.
Dr Paterson told The Canberra Times she had been working closely with the McLuckie family as a local member in the Legislative Assembly, and would use an upcoming Assembly inquiry into dangerous driving to ask more questions of the government about the issue.
The Canberra Liberals seized on Dr Paterson's social media comment, calling for Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury to stand aside and warning the opposition would move a motion of no confidence in the Greens leader if he remained opposed to a review.
Deputy Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson said Mr Rattenbury's position had become "utterly untenable" now a government backbencher had backed the call for a review.
Mr Rattenbury said he appreciated there had been a number of issues raised over sentencing, which had prompted him to ask the Justice and Community Safety Directorate whether there could be improvements.
"This work is ongoing, but the current evidence doesn't suggest a need for a wholesale review and therefore the ACT government has not committed to one. While some the issues that have been raised have some merit for further consideration, they do not amount to a systemic failure of the justice system," Mr Rattenbury said.
"I am always open to ideas to make our justice system more effective. While it might be politically expedient to call for a 'tougher' approach to crime, the evidence is clear that an overly punitive justice system does not reduce crime but in fact leads to increased criminality in the future.
"Canberrans want evidence-based solutions to complex problems and won't tolerate short-term quick fixes that kick the can down the road."
Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Tuesday backed Mr Rattenbury's position, with a spokeswoman for Mr Barr saying "wholesale" review was not required. "Instead, the Attorney-General has indicated a narrower range of areas that he is pursuing and any actions that are required will be undertaken in consultation with relevant stakeholders," she said.
"Of significant importance is the clarifying comments from the Director of Public Prosecutions today that the number of successful prosecution appeals is significantly higher, rather than the total number of appeals filed. And that 'In short, the increased success in appeals is the product of a higher quality professional appeal unit operating as it should, rather than an increase in the underlying error rate'."
MORE A.C.T. POLITICS NEWS:
The ACT's top prosecutor said he was concerned public commentary surrounding the number of appeals launched by his office might "falsely erode confidence in the criminal justice system".
Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC wrote in the latest ACT Bar Bulletin that the number of Crown appeals in 2021-22 had been "significantly higher" than in previous years.
Mr Drumgold intended to write that the "significantly higher" number of prosecution appeals were those that had been successful, not simply the number of appeals being filed.
He told The Canberra Times on Monday that the number of appeals lodged by the prosecution was in fact "steady", and that he was concerned ongoing coverage of the issue had "become misleading".
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