What should your mitigation plea contain?
- The purpose of a mitigation plea is to persuade the Court to impose the least severe or most appropriate punishment (in your view) available for the offence committed in view of all the circumstances of your case.
- As such, the mitigation plea should aim to present the following types of information for the Court’s consideration:
- Factors relating to your personal circumstances: this includes factors such as your family background, education and employment track record, medical conditions, evidence that sheds light on your character and attitude as well as information regarding your potential to be rehabilitated and to be reformed from your offending behaviour.
- Factors relating to the manner in which you committed the offence: this includes factors such as your specific role, the value of property involved, the degree of any injury caused to the victim as well as other circumstances which allow the Court to better understand the context in which the offence took place (e.g. provocation by the victim).
- A mitigation plea should not introduce or rely on information which may contradict the Statement of Facts (SOF) which you had earlier admitted to or which dispute the facts and conclusions arrived at by the Judge after a trial.
