Judges get together to discuss light sentences

COMMUNITY perceptions of light sentences for criminals will be discussed by judges from around Australia when they meet in Canberra next month.
The conference will also feature a presentation from two Territory Justice Department workers about the impact of mandatory jail sentences.
Judges from across Australia will also discuss "community perceptions of light sentencing for arson offenders" when the National Judicial College of Australia meets in Canberra on February 7.
The NJCA's NT convenor is Supreme Court judge Trevor Riley.
Only a third of 276 people who were sentenced for arson in Victoria between 2001 and 2006 were sent to jail.
Institute of Criminology researcher Damon Muller said 68 per cent of arsonists received wholly suspended sentences, community-based orders or other penalties including fines. 
Jail sentences ranged from three months to eight years. The most common term was one year.
Meanwhile, Canberra has fast-tracked new laws forcing tobacco companies to make cigarettes that snuff themselves out.
The high-tech cigarettes designed so they extinguish automatically will now be introduced in March this year.