I
found our visit to the Sentencing Advisory Council (SAC) very interesting in
regard to the research they conduct as
well as in terms of career opportunities.
I
think the role of the SAC is very important for investigating trends and
possible reforms to sentencing practices in Victoria. One aspect I found
surprising was the size of the Council; it was much smaller than I was
expecting, with seven board members and seven employees. Considering that
sentencing is a crucial element of the criminal justice system and one that is
often controversial within the public sphere, as well as the importance of the reports they
produce, I would have expected more people to be involved, although they do
contract extra people. Even though it is a small team, I believe that
the work they do for the Attorney-General and the government is important if we
wish to move towards a fairer criminal justice system. Although the current
government is taking a ‘tough on crime’ approach to policy, the SAC may still
have some degree of influence in guiding the judicial determination of
sentences.
Donald's
role as a policy officer is an area that I would be interested in
possibly pursuing.
Although in such a small organisation their work load would be quite demanding,
it would be rewarding to think that your work may have an impact upon
government policy, and may even work to improve and increase the fairness of
the criminal justice system.
No comments:
Post a Comment