More sentences don't reflect the crime.

Today's Gulf News has another set of court reports showing sentences handed down that simply defy logic.

Summary:

Possession of 0.01 gm of hashish:
Four years, followed by deportation.

Molesting a young girl by rubbing against her four times:
Three months, suspended. Deportation.

Attempted rape of young schoolboy:
Life (25 years), followed by deportation.

I'm sure I've mused over this question before - is there a guideline for sentences, are they written into the law? A range of sentences available to the courts depending on the individual circumstances, such as 'between 10 and 15 years for rape' for example.

Or do individual judges have complete carte blanche to hand down anything?

The stories are here:

Hashish possession.

Young girl molested at airport.

25 years in jail.