The influence of double jeopardy on the sentencing process

Double jeopardy jurisprudence evolved in the common law in response to the inherent deficiencies in medieval criminal procedure and the draconian punishments imposed on defendants. This common law principle proscribes repeated attempts to convict an accused for the same criminal offence following an acquittal, or indeed the imposition of multiple punishments on conviction for the same offence. The objective of this paper is to examine the influence of double jeopardy on the sentencing process in circumstances where the trial court or the appellate court is effectively imposing multiple punishments for the same criminal offence.