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Bushrangers, the Exercise of Mercy and the 'Last Penalty of the Law' in New South Wales and Tasmania 1824-1856
Citation
Plater, DJ and Crofts, P, Bushrangers, the Exercise of Mercy and the 'Last Penalty of the Law' in New South Wales and Tasmania 1824-1856, University of Tasmania Law Review, 32, (2) pp. 295-343. ISSN 0082-2108 (2013) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright 2014 Law School, University of Tasmania
Official URL: http://www.utas.edu.au/law/centres/university-of-t...
Abstract
The death penalty in the 19th century in both colonial Australia and Great
Britain was widely seen as necessary for punishment and deterrence.
However, the prerogative of mercy served a vital role during this period
in mitigating the effects of capital punishment. This article examines the
exercise of the death penalty and the prerogative of mercy in colonial
Australia during the period from 1824 to the grant of responsible
government in 1856 with respect to bushrangers. Bushrangers despite
their often celebrated and even sympathetic status in ‘popular culture’
were perceived (in official and ‘respectable’ circles at least) as more than
mere colonial criminals and as posing a particular threat to the often
tenuous stability and even existence of early colonial society. However,
even offenders ‘beyond the pale’ such as bushrangers were not exempted
from the benefit of mercy. It is argued that the prerogative was taken
seriously in colonial Australia by the public, the press and notably the
authorities to even the worst of capital offenders such as bushrangers.
Different conceptions were expressed during the time, ranging from ideas
of mercy as based on desert and equity, as something that was predictable
and consistent, to ideas of mercy as an undeserved gift. These debates
about the prerogative of mercy articulated different conceptions of law
and order, community and justice in an embryonic, self-governing
society.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Law and Legal Studies |
Research Group: | Public law |
Research Field: | Public law not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Law, Politics and Community Services |
Objective Group: | Justice and the law |
Objective Field: | Justice and the law not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Plater, DJ (Dr David Plater) |
ID Code: | 88368 |
Year Published: | 2013 |
Deposited By: | Law |
Deposited On: | 2014-01-31 |
Last Modified: | 2014-07-31 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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