South African paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius will be sentenced on July 6 for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
The double-amputee's manslaughter conviction was overturned last year by an appeals court, which convicted Pistorius of the more serious charge of murder.
Gerrie Nel, state prosecutor, said that in legislation the 15 year sentence for murder is the minimum acceptable sentence for murder and therefore the starting point for any sentencing considerations.
Yet, he added, courts had moved away from this starting point "for the flimsiest of reasons".
The cousin of Reeva Steenkamp has told Oscar Pistorius' sentencing trial that she didn't believe Reeva loved Oscar.
Carl Pistorius has broken his family's silence in an interview with ITV News.
The disgraced athlete should learn his fate by the end of the week - ending years of legal twists and turns.