The Victorian Liberals have announced that, if elected, they will split the court of appeal into two and appoint a new judges to set precedent they say will match “community expectations”.
The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, will today announce a plan to split the existing court of appeal into two separate courts – a court of criminal appeal and a court of civil appeal – and appoint additional judges specialising in criminal matters to the former.
The Coalition said the new court of criminal appeal would have “broad oversight across Victoria’s courts” to ensure “sentences for serious crime match community expectations” and give effect to new bail and sentencing laws that they would enact before Christmas.
They argue the decisions of this court would then flow down through the entire system, pushing up sentences handed out in courts across the state.
double quotation markOur new criminal court will empower specialist criminal law judges to ensure sentencing of criminals meet community expectations. Each sentence they hand down will form part of case law going forward, helping to establish appropriate consequences for criminal actions.
