Pleaded guilty to reduce a sentence

My son was involved in a crime. This was very stressful to our family since our son faced the potential of going to jail for a long time at the expense of his education. To avoid a long sentence, our lawyer advised my son to plead guilty so as to reduce the potential sentence. To our dismay, this was not the case. My son was given the maximum sentence. Why was his sentence not reduced? Kindly guide me.
MK, Mwanza

Parenting can be very tough where children get in trouble. Be aware that sentencing is guided by the provisions of the Law that create an offence. However, there are factors that Courts may consider in deciding the appropriate sentence as per the law. According to the Tanzania Sentencing Guidelines 2023, issued by the Chief Justice, in assessing the appropriate sentence, the Court has to take into account the plea of guilty for an accused person who has pleaded guilty.

The guideline requires that Judges and Magistrates must explicitly state that the plea of guilty has been taken into account and failure to do so may be taken as indication that the plea was not considered at all or was given insufficient weight and the appellate Court will definitely interfere to rectify this error. However, such sentence cannot be less than any statutory minimum sentence imposed by law. Where a reduction is granted, the Court should state the amount of a reduction that has been given from this sentence because of the plea of guilty. Further, where no reduction is given, cogent reasons must be shown. In case, the accused pleads guilty at the earliest stage, then more credit may be given than one who pleads guilty at a later stage.

In summary, there is a greater level of reduction in the sentence available the sooner the accused pleads guilty. Remember this is only a guideline, deviation is allowed where good reasons are shown by the Judge or Magistrate, and also it is not applicable to every offence. Your lawyer can guide you further.