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Criminals are rewarded with lighter sentences if they plead guilty in an effort to clear Victoria’s huge backlog of cases
- Criminals in Victoria get penalties for early IOUs
- It’s part of an effort by the courts to clear an overwhelming backlog of cases
- Data from the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria shows cases have fallen to 101,000
- Convicted rapist Gokmen Goktogan received a lighter sentence this week
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Criminals who plead guilty in Victoria will receive lighter sentences as part of an effort by the state’s justice system to clear an overwhelming backlog of offenders awaiting trial.
The backlog is due to courts being forced to suspend trials due to restrictions during the Covid pandemic.
It was unveiled by the Herald Sun in May that a series of judicial reforms had been introduced to prevent cases from going to court.
Criminals who plead guilty are given sentence cuts in Victorian courts in an effort by the state’s justice system to clear a backlog of cases (photo, County Court of Victoria)
Under the measures, judges were required to grant penalty credits for early guilty pleas by default.
The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria also allowed court clerks to handle more serious criminal cases.
But the move raised concerns about whether convicted offenders would be properly convicted, given that judicial registrars can only impose fines or community work.
However, they can refer a case to the magistrate if they consider the case ‘too serious’ or if they believe that the person being tried should be eligible for conviction.
It comes as rapist Gokmen Goktogan, 29, who sexually assaulted a teenager at a bus stop in 2020, became the last perpetrator to receive a lighter sentence.
Goktogan pleaded guilty in County Court and was sentenced to eight years in prison, with a minimum term of five years, for raping a 19-year-old woman in West Footscray.
Judge Gerard Mullaly spoke at length about the appalling nature of Goktogan’s crime, but noted that the Court of Appeals was clear that judges should give weight to early pleas because of the backlog.
“The discount should be more pronounced and palpable, or obvious, to an accused and to others, so that those who are guilty are encouraged to plead guilty,” he said.
“Accordingly, in this case there is a very significant mitigation arising from your admission of guilt, done when it was and in circumstances where criminal trial records are still adversely affected by the delays caused by the pandemic.”
Gokmen Goktogan, 29, is the latest convicted criminal to receive a lighter sentence after pleading guilty to raping a 19-year-old woman in West Footscray (stock image)
State efforts to reduce the number of cases pending trial appear to have worked, with the latest data showing cases before Victoria’s Magistrates Court had fallen to 101,000.
This is less than the 111,000 pending cases in May.
The peak number of cases reached 145,212 in December 2020.
Court sources told the Herald Sun that Victoria’s workload may not return to pre-pandemic levels in the next two years.