The present government, eager to present itself as a new and fair democracy, has two main reasons for trying to bring the senior ranking generals to court. The first is to try to dissociate itself as much as possible from the previous regime; much like post-war Germany did with the Nuremberg trials, and the second being due to increasing public pressure on the government to try the perpetrators.
On the other hand, by the end of the twentieth century, the changing attitude of the government had a direct impact on its approach to punishment. The country was now run as an institutional monarchy by a democratically elected Government, which no longer sought solely to conduct foreign affairs and prevent revolution, but undertook a new role as an influence on the way people lead their lives.
Capital punishment had now been abolished as prisons had become the most common form of punishment, with 90% of serious offenders sent to prison. The emphasis of prisons had shifted from trying to deter current and future criminals to actively reforming and rehabilitating criminals back into society.
A network of police forces was set up to prevent and police crime and the judicial system evolved into a proficient way of dealing with individual criminals and their crimes.
Sentencing in courts now focused on reform through community service, education in prison and reduced sentences for good behaviour instead of trying to root out crime by eliminating serious offenders through transportation, execution and using it as a deterrent to others. Fines were the most common form of punishment in manor courts and were also used for minor offences such as swearing, gambling, and failing to attend church. Transportation was slowly being introduced but would not really take off until the next century, when the Transportation Act of 1718 would be introduced.
This is not a particularly new crime, as throughout time most rulers and people in power have always had to eliminate possible threats to their reign even from within from within their own people. The country was now run as an institutional monarchy by a democratically elected Government, which no longer sought solely to conduct foreign affairs and prevent revolution, but undertook a new role as an influence on the way people lead their lives. The only recent change is that certain post-dictatorship states have started to look back at the previous regime and tried them for what they deem to be injustices.
