Today, we’re talking about mitigation pleas, and specifically, restitution. What exactly is restitution? Why should you talk about it in your mitigation plea, and what should you say? How is it helpful?
When you prepare your mitigation plea and presenting it to the court, you should give information relating to the incident that resulted in the offence being committed.
What is restitution?
Restitution is an issue that comes up if your offence involves theft or an offence of dishonesty or if you’re involved in having taken property belonging to others. Restitution really means compensation. It means paying back to the victim, or the person who has lost the property or the money or what you have taken from them
This is restitution and it is important to address this issue in your mitigation plea.
Specifically, restitution is something that you must try your best to do because it is something that the court can take into account in considering whether to lower the amount of punishment that they will impose
For example, if you have made full or partial restitution, this is something that the judge can consider in deciding whether or not to pose a higher or lower punishment.
When you make the restitution is also equally important. If you’ve made the restitution very early on, maybe even before you were charged with the offence, this is something that is very helpful, and the court can take this into account.
Generally, restitution can help to persuade the court to impose a lower sentence
You can do it by yourself, or through a lawyer’s help. But it is very important to make sure that you have some form of acknowledgement for the restitution that you have made. Otherwise, there is no proof that you have repaid these monies.
Summary
So, in summary, 2 things that you should know about restitution:
- It is important for the court to know whether you’ve made the restitution and how much of the restitution you’ve made, whether it’s in full or whether it’s partial, and when you made it.
- The second thing to bear in mind is to have proof and some form of acknowledgement of the restitution.
So, there you have it, mitigation pleas and specifically restitution and why it’s important to address this issue.
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