2 - The Sliding Scale of Sentence Discounts

Summary

This chapter discusses the adoption, and rejection, of a quantified sliding scale of sentence in comparable legal jurisdictions. The chapter begins with England and Wales, where the sliding scale of sentence discounts was first standardised. It then looks at Hong Kong, where its sliding scale of sentence discounts was a judicial creation of the appellate court that took inspiration from the developments in England and Wales. Afterwards, this chapter examines certain Australian states that have moved towards a quantified sliding scale of sentence discounts. It then discusses the two jurisdictions of Scotland and New Zealand, which have rejected the quantified sliding scale of sentence discounts in favour of greater judicial discretion. It is shown that despite the varying responses to whether quantified guidelines for sentence discounts for guilty pleas should be implemented, all the jurisdictions surveyed agree that earlier guilty pleas should generally attract higher sentence discounts, primarily justified based on the perceived utilitarian benefits of early guilty pleas.