Fines a key 'justice challenge'
The prolific imposition of fines, mandatory jail terms and a "boomtown" Perth are among the key challenges to a system that ensures "justice for all", the State's top judge says.
In a speech at the annual conference of the Financial Counsellors Association of WA yesterday, Chief Justice Wayne Martin re- iterated his opposition to the resurgence of mandatory sentences. "At one level, laws which require a court to impose a particular sentence on all offenders convicted of a particular type of offence, whatever its circumstances, can be said to have 'majestic equality' because all offenders are treated alike," he said.
"At another level, however, requiring a court to treat offenders with different characteristics who commit offences in different circumstances exactly the same is to mandate injustice or substantive inequality."
Justice Martin's speech, which had quotes on the objective of "justice for all" from ancient history in Judeo-Christian tradition to a track from heavy-metal band Metallica, analysed the discrimination in the justice system against those less well off and the accessibility of the system by people with limited resources.
He said inequalities between the wealthy and those in financial stress had been exacerbated in WA during the past two decades of economic growth.
He concluded that with a sensible approach, which meant access to dispute resolution by a broad range of people and a system that accommodated disadvantage and difference, there were grounds for "cautious optimism" that "justice for all" could be achieved.
Justice Martin said specified fines and infringement notices had in some cases been successful in bringing about changes in public behaviour, such as big fines for not wearing a seatbelt.
He said monetary penalties, the most common outcome of a criminal prosecution in WA, raised practical difficulties in assessing offenders' capacity to pay.
Fines risked inequality because they might have no practical effect on a wealthy person but caused great hardship to a poor person and their family, he said.
