Some people believe that there should be a fixed punishment for each type of crime. Others, however, argue that the circumstances of an individual crime, and the motivation for committing it, should always be taken into account when deciding on the punishment. v.12

In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of crimes being committed. Many people are of the opinion that these wrong-doings should be classified categorically. However, I believe that each offence should be looked upon in a subjective manner, taking into account the nature and severity of these unlawful activities. Giving a fixed punishment would definitely make court proceedings a lot quicker. This is because the judges would not need to decide what type of punishment criminals would deserve as it would have been already decided for them. However, this is an unfair practice as some of the criminals may not deserve the punishments given to them. For example, a person robbing a convenient store will not deserve the same punishment as a person robbing a bank because the degree of the crime is not as severe as the latter. On the other hand, deciding a crime according to the situation and motive of it make perfect sense as it would ensure that the lawbreaker is given a fair trial and the right punishment is handed down to him. For instance, a mentally ill person who commits a murder would be judged accordingly, instead of being grouped into the same category of all the other type of murderers. This, therefore, will make the trial balance and fair. In conclusion, my opinion is that the punishment for a crime should be made up based on all the factors leading up to the unlawful action rather than providing judgement based on the classification of crimes into types.