mandatory minimum

August 27, 2020

Counter-Rebellion

Judges of the Alberta Court of Appeal question the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on mandatory minimum sentences Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

Charter, constitutional interpretation, construction, cruel and unusual punishment, mandatory minimum, section 12, tough on crime
June 4, 2015

Minimum Agreement

In R. v. Nur, 2015 SCC 15, Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the mandatory minimum sentence Parliament had imposed for the crime of possessing a restricted or a prohibited firearm, either loaded or with ammunition nearby, without the appropriate license. Justices Rothstein, Moldaver, and Wagner dissented, arguing that the majority’s approach to assessing the constitutionality of mandatory Continue reading

Criminal Law/Policy

mandatory minimum, sentencing, Supreme Court of Canada
April 25, 2015

Fear-Mongering

Irwin Cotler has table a private member’s bill, C-669, that would give judges the ability to reduce any mandatory minimum sentence provided by the Criminal Code in any manner that [the judge] considers just and reasonable, taking into consideration the circumstances of the offence, victim and offender, the sentencing principles set out in [the Code], and Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

judicial independence, mandatory minimum, sentencing, tough on crime
April 14, 2015

Nothing Is Always Absolutely So

This morning, the Supreme Court has delivered its decision in R. v. Nur, 2015 SCC 15, striking down as “cruel and unusual,” and therefore contrary to s. 12 of the Charter, a mandatory minimum sentence for the simple possession of a restricted or prohibited firearm that is either loaded or stored with easily accessible ammunition, Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

Charter, mandatory minimum, sentencing, tough on crime
December 17, 2014

Judge Kopf on Mandatory Minimums

At his blog Hercules and the Umpire, Richard G. Kopf, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, has a fascinating post on mandatory minimum sentences, which I would urge anyone who has been following the Canadian debate about them to read. (Indeed, this is the rare occasion on which you should Continue reading

Criminal Law/Policy

judicial independence, mandatory minimum, sentencing, separation of powers, tough on crime
December 4, 2014

A Standing Invitation

Today the Québec Court of Appeal dismissed the federal government’s appeal from the Superior Court’s decision in Barreau du Québec c. Canada (Procureur général), 2014 QCCS 1863, which granted the Québec Bar public interest standing to challenge the constitutionality of the mandatory minimum sentences ― all 94 of them ― introduced by the so-called Safe Streets Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

bar, judicial independence, judicial review, mandatory minimum, sentencing, separation of powers, standing, tough on crime
November 14, 2014

Bar This Claim

A couple of recent cases that the Québec Court of Appeal should consider in deciding whether to let the Barreau’s challenge to mandatory minimums go forward. Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

Charter, judicial review, mandatory minimum, separation of powers, standing, tough on crime
June 18, 2014

Up We Go

Just a quick post to note that Justice Pierre Dalphond of the Québec Court of Appeal has granted the federal government’s application for leave to appeal the Superior Court’s decision granting the Québec Bar standing to challenge, wholesale, the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions enacted by Parliament as part of an omnibus criminal law statute, the Safe Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy, The Justice System

bar, mandatory minimum, standing, tough on crime
May 19, 2014

Open Bar

First of all, apologies for my silence. I’m afraid I will not blog much this week either, but I should resume normal schedule next week. I am able to write today, however, and want to discuss the decision of Québec’s Superior Court on a challenge to the standing of the Québec Bar to attack the Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy, The Justice System

bar, judicial independence, judicial review, mandatory minimum, sentencing, standing, tough on crime
March 25, 2014

Petty Punishment, SCC Edition

Rather lost in all the noise generated by the Supreme Court’s decision in l’Affaire Nadon is the Court’s decision, delivered last Thursday, in Canada (Attorney General) v. Whaling, 2014 SCC 20, which considered, and found unconstitutional, the retroactive application of the abolition of accelerated parole review by one of the recent “tough on crime” laws. I would like to Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

mandatory minimum, punishment, retroactivity, tough on crime