KSLU Corner™ New AIBE previous QP

Penology and Victimology

Semester 5 · 17 topics in 5 units

Past question papers for Penology and Victimology

Unit I 3 topics

  1. Notion of punishment in law: meaning, history and purposeWhat penology studies, how lawyers define punishment, how punishment changed from ancient India to the present, and the objects a modern penal system pursues, with the Indian courts' preference for reformation.6 min
  2. Schools of criminology and their penal policiesThe pre-classical, classical, neo-classical, positive and sociological schools, what each says causes crime, and the kind of punishment each recommends, ending with the clinical school that shapes modern penology.5 min
  3. Crime prevention and crime controlThe difference between preventing crime and controlling it, the main kinds of prevention programme, preventive powers of the police and magistrates under the BNSS, and the prevention of juvenile delinquency.5 min

Unit II 4 topics

  1. Kinds of punishment: historical and modernThe punishments societies have used, from flogging and transportation to fine and community service, a penological assessment of each, and the law on life imprisonment and solitary confinement as the Supreme Court has shaped it.7 min
  2. Sentencing policy and processHow an Indian court passes sentence: the separate hearing on sentence, the factors that aggravate and mitigate, proportionality, the problem of unguided discretion, and the case for sentencing guidelines.5 min
  3. The rarest of rare doctrineHow the Supreme Court moved from Jagmohan Singh to Bachan Singh, the five categories in Machhi Singh, the later refinements in Bariyar, Sangeet and Manoj, and how to apply the test to a set of facts.6 min
  4. The riddle of capital punishmentOffences punishable with death under the BNS, the constitutional challenges, delay and mercy petitions, the arguments for and against, the Law Commission's 262nd Report, and a short account of euthanasia as the papers set it.6 min

Unit III 4 topics

  1. The prison system and prison reforms in IndiaHow the Indian prison developed, the committees that shaped reform from Macaulay to Mulla and Krishna Iyer, the Model Prison Manual of 2016 and the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act of 2023, and whether the jail can work as a reformative institution.5 min
  2. Rights of prisoners and the role of the judiciary in prison reformHow the Supreme Court read prisoners' rights into Articles 14, 19 and 21, from Sunil Batra and Charles Sobraj to Rama Murthy and Sukanya Shantha, with the special problems of women prisoners and their children.6 min
  3. Alternatives to imprisonment: probation, open prisons, parole and furloughWhy penologists look for alternatives to the prison, the non-custodial measures Indian law offers, open prisons, and the difference between parole, furlough and remission, with the Karnataka rules and the leading cases.6 min
  4. Victimology: meaning, history and philosophyWho is a victim, how victimology grew from von Hentig and Mendelsohn to the UN Declaration of 1985, the victim typologies and theories of victimisation, and the philosophy behind a victim-centred criminal justice system.6 min

Unit IV 4 topics

  1. Victimology: the European experienceHow Britain and continental Europe developed state compensation, compensation orders, victim support and victims' rights, from Margery Fry and the 1964 scheme to the Council of Europe Convention of 1983 and the EU Victims' Rights Directive of 2012.5 min
  2. Victimology: the American experienceCrime victim compensation and victims' rights in the United States and Canada: the state compensation programmes, the Victims of Crime Act 1984 and the Crime Victims Fund, victim impact statements after Payne v. Tennessee, and the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights.5 min
  3. Victim and witness assistance programmesWhat victim-witness assistance programmes do, witness protection in India from Zahira Sheikh to the Witness Protection Scheme 2018 and section 398 BNSS, vulnerable witness deposition centres, and the support owed to victims of rape and domestic violence.5 min
  4. Restitution and restorative justiceThe concept of restitution, how it differs from compensation and from civil damages, its place in the UN Declaration and Indian law, and the restorative justice methods (mediation, conferencing, compounding and plea bargaining) that build on it.5 min

Unit V 2 topics

  1. Victimology in India: history, the UN Declaration and the legal frameworkHow Indian law moved from treating the victim as a witness to recognising rights of information, participation, appeal and compensation, the UN Declaration of 1985 that guided it, the Malimath Committee's proposals, and the victim's rights under the BNSS.6 min
  2. Victim compensation: the role of the courts and of the NHRCHow the Supreme Court built a law of victim compensation through Articles 21, 32 and 226 and through section 357 CrPC, how State compensation schemes work, and how the National Human Rights Commission recommends relief for victims of abuse of power.6 min