A Critical Analysis of Sentencing in Criminal Law: The Case of Cameroon and France

Abstract

Mankind is a companionable being and the fact of staying together with varying and various characters usually gives rise to differences. If these differences are not sorted out amicably they may degenerate into disputes or conflicts with far reaching consequences. These disputes may be settled in either a civil or criminal court depending on their nature and the choice of the victim. While the aim of a civil action is to pay damages to a victim who has suffered prejudice as a result of another person’s tortuous act, a criminal action is aims principally to punish an offender whose action offends the society as a whole. The paper however, is concerned with criminal law. The purpose of criminal law is self-protection and to prevent harm to others. In this light, this paper after making clarifications of key concepts, analyze the relevance and actors of sentencing under international criminal law. The paper also seeks to provide the limited province of the judge in sentencing as well as appraise the legal provisions and mechanisms of sentencing in Cameroon and France. In effect, the paper concludes with some salient measures in order to blend theory and practice for effective implementation of Sentencing in Cameroon and France Criminal Law.