Band 6+: Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others, however, argue that the circumstances of an individual crime, and the motivation for committing it, should always be taken into account when deciding on the punishment."

Some believe that fixed punishment is the most justifiable approach to sentencing law-breakers, while others firmly oppose this view saying that there are a lot of variables such as the circumstances of an individual case and the intentions of the convict that should be considered. This essay will explore both perspectives and provide my view on this topic.

Those who maintain that fixed system of punishment is highly-beneficial for the court provide a number of reasons for their opinion. To begin with, such system makes the process of sentencing a convict more convinient and swifter, as knowing the nature and form of a commited crime would be enough for a judge to make a decision. For instance, a suspect may be sentenced to several years of prison after proving the fact of an immense fraud having been commited without requiring further investigation. Furthermore, this approach might prevent easing the punishment for a law-breaker, therefore, satisfying the public’s sense of justice; as a result, any potential scandal or public outburst may be avoided.

However, others believe that flexible judgement-system is the most optimal way of achieving justice, because circumstances and motivation behind the crimes may vary throughout different cases. It stems from the possibility of the crime being unintentional, or having been a result of an accident, which requires lessening the degree of the punishment. For example, a person who has commited a murder might have done in order to protect their own well-being. Also, there might be situations were the circumstances of an event and the intentions of the suspect require being penalised more severely.

To my mind, only thorough investigation of different variables in a specific case allow for more justice, as the degree of punishment shall be varied according to the severity of law-breaking and there is a vast range of factors that could have had an effect on it.

To conclude, although fixed punishment may prevent misunderstanding and make the work of the court much simplier, people break law for a number of reasons that shall be taken into account in order to make the most justifiable decisions.