ThisisanopenaccesstitleavailableunderthetermsofaCCBY-NC-ND4.0Internationallicence.ItisfreetoreadatOxfordScholarshipOnlineandofferedasafreePDFdownloadfromOUPandselectedopenaccesslocations.Therehasbeenlittlesustainedconsiderationofthewaysinwhichhumanrightsacttosafeguardtheindividualfromsubstantiveunfairnessorinjusticeintheimpositionofpunishment.Humanrightsmightbeexpectedtoplayapivotalroleatthesentencingstage,regulatingtheprocessandsubstanceofsentencing,mappingoutthestate’srole,andaffordingitlegitimacyintheimpositionofpunishment.Thetraditionalviewthatsentencingtheoryisbestunderstoodasabranchofmoralphilosophyhasobscuredtheimportanceofconsiderationofthespecialnatureofstatepunishmentasmediatedbyandthroughlawandthesignificanceofhumanrightsprinciples,notablylegality,proportionality,equality,andjudicialresponsibilityforthedeterminationofthesentence.SarahJSummersfocussesonsentencingpracticeswhicharewidespreadacrossEuropeandindeedfurtherafieldandtheircompatibilitywithconstitutionalorhumanrightsprinciples.SentencingandHumanRightsdevelopsasystematicaccountoftheimportanceofhumanrightsprinciplesatsentencingstage.Considerationoftheseprinciplesprovidesthebasisforanexaminationofthewayinwhichtheymightbeexpectedtolimitimportantsentencingpractices,suchastheimpositionofaggravatedsentencesforpreviousconvictions,thetreatmentofconfessionsandmandatoryminimumsentences.Itisnotjustthatpunishmentfollowsamultitudeofaimsbutratherthatthebalanceoftheseaimsmay,andinthecontextoflengthyprisonsentencesalmostcertainlywill,changeduringthesentence.Thisexaminationofthehumanrightslimitsonthesentencesuggeststhatitmightbenecessarytoreconsiderthewayinwhichstatepunishmentisconceptualisedinsentencingtheory.
