6.2 Difference between Conviction and Sentencing

The point Conviction Sentencing The question Did the accused commit the offence? What is the legal consequence? The stage The trial's end (the guilt's finding) The post-conviction stage (the separate hearing) The standard Beyond reasonable doubt (the criminal standard) The court's discretion within the legal range (the evidence's civil-type balance for the circumstances) The focus The ACT (the offence's elements) The OFFENDER (the personal-and-situational factors) The parties' role The prosecution's proof vs the The mitigation-and- aggravation's presentation (the The point Conviction Sentencing defence's rebuttal victim's-and-probation's inputs) The outcome's nature The status's declaration (the guilt) the consequence's imposition (the penalty- and-conditions) The appeal's faces The conviction's challenge (the facts-and-law) The sentence's challenge (the excessiveness-and- inadequacy — the appellate revision's scope) The distinction's significance (the craft's marks): the two judgments' separation protects BOTH the innocent (the conviction's strict proof) AND the convicted (the sentence's individualised craft) — the merger's systems' critique (the sentence-as-afterthought's failure); the sentencing-as-science (the penology's courtroom entry — Unit 1.3's link).