Crime Prevention Is the only Process That Achieves Justice for Victims and Society

“Crime prevention is the only process that achieves justice for victims and society.”

To what extent is this statement true with respect to the Australian Criminal Justice System.

Crime prevention is not the only process within the Australian Criminal Justice System that achieves justice for victims and society. There are many other processes in the Australian Criminal Justice System that aim at achieving justice, including law reform and legal aid. Law reform allows for gaps in legislation to be mended and new legislation introduced to address certain issues. Legal aid was set up to allow for disadvantaged people to receive access to legal representation in court and thus receive a fair trial. Law reform and legal aid are two processes amongst many others in the Australian Criminal Justice System that aim to achieve justice for society.

Law reform is a vital process in the criminal justice system in achieving justice as it allows for legislation to be updated according to modern day values. One example of legislation introduced was the one punch legislation that was introduced in 2014 to handle the issue of ‘one punch’ fights and assaults. It was a substantial issue that was occurring on multiple contingencies, particularly in the Sydney CBD area. This legislation was introduced after Thomas Kelly was fatally assaulted by Kieran Loveridge in an incident in the Sydney CBD. There had also been another teenager who had been fatally assaulted in similar circumstances just prior to the announcement of the one punch legislation, which only accentuated the position of the NSW Government. The one punch legislation concluded that those found guilty of the offence will face a minimum of eight years imprisonment, which left Kelly’s family very thankful especially since Loveridge had only received a four-year sentence prior. Thomas Kelly's parents said they welcomed the measures, which had gone "way above what we were asking for". After the legislation was announced, the NSW Premier at the time Barry O’Farrell stated “The NSW Government has heard the community’s call for action. We are committed to addressing the continued drug and alcohol-fuelled attacks on our city streets and the increase in violence used in these attacks”. One punch legislation has been an important focus of law reform in NSW and has shown that law reform is beneficial for achieving