When is Plea Bargaining Justified

Recent trials in New South Wales, in which several youths agreed to plead "guilty" to charges of rape in return for the Crown Prosecutor agreeing to withhold aggravating facts from the judge when addressing the court on sentencing, resulted in the accused receiving relatively minor sentences of imprisonment. This form of plea bargaining is condemned on the basis that there can be no mitigating circumstances in the crime of rape. It is submitted that the prosecution, by withholding evidence critical on sentencing, deceived the court and was particeps criminis.