Once a judge passes a sentence, he has 28 days to change it if he wishes. This power is seldom exercised – no doubt because judges seldom have the time or the inclination to reconsider decisions.
Only twice in my eight years on the High Court Bench did I alter sentences I had originally passed.
The first, not long after my appointment to the Bench, was a most tragic case, for which there could never have been an obviously right answer.
It was