Glossary of key Accused: A person who is charged with a criminal offence. Executive: The arm of government that implements the law. Distinguished from the legislature and the judiciary, the executive in Victoria comprises the Premier as Head of Government and his or her ministers and includes all the instrumentalities of government under the ministers. Guidelines council: The proposed Victorian sentencing guidelines council. Guidelines council jurisdiction: A jurisdiction that has a sentencing guidelines council. Guideline judgment: In Victoria, a decision made by the Court of Appeal under Part 2AA of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). A guideline judgment provides broad sentencing guidance beyond the facts of a particular case, and can apply generally to a particular court or class of court, to an offence or a penalty or to a particular class of offender. Higher courts: In this report, the County Court of Victoria and the Supreme Court of Victoria. Instinctive synthesis: The approach to sentencing used by the courts in Victoria by which the judge identifies all the factors that are relevant to the sentence, discusses their significance and then makes a value judgment as to the appropriate sentence given all the factors of the case. Instinctive synthesis is distinguished from a staged decision-making process by which the sentencer first determines the upper and lower limits of an appropriate sentence based on offence severity, and then modifies the sentence by reference to other considerations. Judiciary: The arm of government comprising the system of courts that interpret and the law. Distinguished from the legislature and the executive, the judiciary in Victoria comprises all the judicial officers appointed to the various Victorian courts.
Glossary of key Accused: A person who is charged with a criminal offence. Executive: The arm of government that implements the law. Distinguished from the legislature and the judiciary, the executive in Victoria comprises the Premier as Head of Government and his or her ministers and includes all the instrumentalities of government under the ministers. Guidelines council: The proposed Victorian sentencing guidelines council. Guidelines council jurisdiction: A jurisdiction that has a sentencing guidelines council. Guideline judgment: In Victoria, a decision made by the Court of Appeal under Part 2AA of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). A guideline judgment provides broad sentencing guidance beyond the facts of a particular case, and can apply generally to a particular court or class of court, to an offence or a penalty or to a particular class of offender. Higher courts: In this report, the County Court of Victoria and the Supreme Court of Victoria. Instinctive synthesis: The approach to sentencing used by the courts in Victoria by which the judge identifies all the factors that are relevant to the sentence, discusses their significance and then makes a value judgment as to the appropriate sentence given all the factors of the case. Instinctive synthesis is distinguished from a staged decision-making process by which the sentencer first determines the upper and lower limits of an appropriate sentence based on offence severity, and then modifies the sentence by reference to other considerations. Judiciary: The arm of government comprising the system of courts that interpret and the law. Distinguished from the legislature and the executive, the judiciary in Victoria comprises all the judicial officers appointed to the various Victorian courts.