A sentencing judge retains discretion to withhold a discount for a guilty plea even where a sentence less than the maximum is imposed, provided the extreme gravity of the crime or the need for public protection justifies it. Disputes about the basis of criminal liability at a sentence hearing, resolved by submissions rather than contested evidence, do not erode the utilitarian value of a guilty plea. The worst category of murder is not a closed class and is not confined to previously recognised factual patterns.
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4 of the 27 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.