The new three-tier sentencing framework set by a judge last month to deal with motorists who cause grievous hurt through negligent driving is the latest in more than a dozen structured sentencing guidelines set by an appeal court over the past five years. These include offences such as drink driving, national service evasion and match-fixing.

In the case that prompted the new framework, motorist Tang Ling Lee, 45, had been sentenced to one week in jail and banned from driving for two years after she admitted to failing to keep a proper lookout while making a right turn at a junction.

A motorcyclist hit by her car suffered substantial injuries, and she had appealed for a fine instead.

Justice See Kee Oon, in dismissing her appeal, noted that previous cases showed the same offence had resulted in a fine in some cases, but jail in others.

Hence, the need to provide guidance and foster consistency.

The High Court judge in the case set up a three-tier structure to relate the punishment range from fines to jail terms to the degree of harm and culpability for cases in which a trial is claimed.

Other such frameworks include the 2015 case of Eric Ding, in which Justice Chan Seng Onn set out a sentencing framework for match-fixing in the form of a graph.

National University of Singapore law professor A. Kumaralingam said sentencing frameworks "provide guidance for judges to help them set sentences that are consistent, which ensures that all offenders are treated fairly". "Sentencing frameworks also allow for calibration of sentences to align the punishment with the severity of the offence, while taking into account contemporary criminal justice trends and societal expectations."

Sharing similar views, practising senior lawyer Peter Ong Lip Cheng said that on the downside, the framework cannot be followed rigidly to bind the hands of the judge, but has to be flexible when applied to the facts.