A LOCAL solicitor is fearful a change to sentencing discount laws would lead to lengthy delays in court cases and put more pressure on the judicial system.
Earlier this week, the State Government announced a review of legislation regarding sentence discounts given to offenders who enter early guilty pleas.
Serious offenders can currently become entitled to a 40pc discount if they enter a guilty plea at an early stage, which has recently caused public uproar in relation to some cases.
However, local lawyer John Williamson said the current legislation was appropriate and opposed any major changes.
“There always has to be some provision for consideration for an early guilty plea, which saves the court time and money and saves the victim a lot of stress,” Mr Williamson said.
“The courts are currently overloaded and to finalise matters in an expedient way has been beneficial.”
With district court judges only sitting in Mount Gambier three times a year for four weeks, Mr Williamson said abolishing the sentencing discount would place particular pressure on the South East legal system.
“At the moment, the district court circuits are simply unable to cope and a majority of the cases are guilty pleas,” Mr Williamson said.
“If they abolished sentencing discounts, you would immediately find most of the pleas are not guilty, because the offenders have nothing to lose.
“A trial can sometimes take three weeks or even longer and more of them would cause major delays in the local system.”
Currently, defendants can be kept in prison on remand for years awaiting trial and Mr Williamson feared those periods would be a lot longer with legislation changes.
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman agreed there was a time and place for guilty plea discounting to work in our judicial system.
However, she said several major cases had highlighted the need to review the current system.
“This government is prioritising community safety and the right that every person has to feel safe in their home and community.”
“This review marks the next step in reforming our justice system.”
Some of the public outrage was in relation to Millicent double murderer Bo Olsson, who was granted a 40pc discount for his early guilty plea.
Mr Williamson said despite receiving the discount, Olsson still received a sentence which could likely see him spend the rest of his life in prison.
“He still received a 26-year non-parole term and that is a substantial sentence in anyone’s mind,” Mr Williamson said.
“Given the fact he was 53 years old, even if he is released he will be nearly 80 years of age.”
While discount has to be applied to early pleas under the current legislation, Mr Williamson said sentencing has many other elements, making it a much more complex process.
“Even though they apply a discount, it is still up to the judge’s discretion where the starting point is for the sentence,” he said.
“It is still up to them to decide what penalty they are going to give and there are a number of other factors they are required to consider.”
