Julian V. Roberts is a Professor of Criminology in the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford and a member of the Sentencing Council of England and Wales. He is Editor in Chief of the European Journal of Criminology and Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

• 1. Exploring aggravation and mitigation at sentencing Julian Roberts; 2. Re-evaluating the justifications for aggravation and mitigation at sentencing Andrew Ashworth; 3. The search for principles of mitigation: integrating cultural demands Allan Manson; 4. Personal mitigation at sentencing and assumptions about offending and desistance Joanna Shapland; 5. Intoxication as a sentencing factor: mitigating or aggravating? Nicola Padfield; 6. Beyond the partial excuse: Australasian approaches to provocation as a sentencing factor Arie Freiberg and Felicity Stewart; 7. Equality before the law: racial and social background factors as sources of mitigation at sentencing Kate Warner; 8. Personal mitigation: an empirical analysis in England and Wales Jessica Jacobson and Mike Hough; 9. Exploring public attitudes to sentencing factors in England and Wales Julian Roberts and Mike Hough; 10. The pernicious impact of perceived public opinion on sentencing: findings from an empirical study of the public's approach to personal mitigation Austin Lovegrove; 11. Addressing problematic sentencing factors in the development of guidelines Warren Young and Andrea King; 12. Proof of aggravating and mitigating facts at sentencing Kevin Reitz; 13. Mitigation in federal sentencing in the United States Will Berry; 14. The discretionary effect of mitigating and aggravating factors: a South African case study Stephan Terblanche.

'… a tremendously valuable contribution to our understanding of the poorly defined factors which may suggest mitigation or aggravation at sentencing … it represents a signal addition to one's law library …' Criminal Law Journal