From Sentencing Hearings to Sentencing Conferences

Abstract

This article presents a theoretical case for partial deformalisation of sentencing hearings, whereby the offender and the victim would be invited to add their particularistic perspectives on crime and punishment in unmediated nonhierarchical settings. It is argued that partial deformalisation would facilitate the realisation of different aims of criminal punishment, including retribution and appropriate leniency, rehabilitation for offenders, and restoration for victims. To support this argument, the article highlights under‐researched aspects of these aims of criminal punishment. It does so with reference to the distinction between general and radically particularistic claims about crime and punishment.