sentencing

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
September 20, 2014

Where Credit Is Due

In a recent decision, R. v. Safarzadeh-Markhali, 2014 ONCA 627, the Court of Appeal for Ontario invalidated yet another piece of the federal government “tough on crime” legislative programme, namely subs. 719(3.1) of the Criminal Code, which has the effect of preventing judges from granting enhanced credit for pre-sentence imprisonment to offenders who are not released on Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

equality, fundamental justice, sentencing, 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
April 11, 2014

Truth and Sentencing

In a pair of decisions delivered this morning, R. v. Summers, 2014 SCC 26, and a companion case, R. v. Carvery, 2014 SCC 27, the Supreme Court has endorsed the trial courts’ practice of routinely crediting time spent by accused persons before their sentencing on a more than one-to-one basis against the total duration of their sentence, the Truth in Sentencing Act, Continue reading

Criminal Law/Policy

sentencing, tough on crime
December 2, 2012

The Limits of Independence

I want to return to the Québec Bar’s challenge against the constitutionality of all the mandatory minimum sentences increased or created by Bill C-10, the “tough on crime” omnibus bill adopted by Parliament earlier this year, about which I blogged here earlier this week. One of the grounds of possible unconstitutionality which the Bar raises Continue reading

Constitutional law, Constitutional Theory, Criminal Law/Policy, The Justice System

criminal law, judicial independence, punishment, sentencing, tough on crime
November 27, 2012

A Bar Brawl

The Québec Bar has launched a constitutional challenge against a substantial part of the Conservative government’s “tough-on-crime” agenda, Radio-Canada reports. In an application filed in Québec’s Superior Court, it contends that every provision of the the omnibus criminal law bill, C-10, enacted by Parliament this year as the Safe Streets and Communities Act, S.C. 2012 c. 1, Continue reading

Constitutional law, Constitutional Theory, Criminal Law/Policy, The Justice System

bar, criminal law, judicial review, punishment, sentencing, standing, tough on crime
November 11, 2012

Petty Punishment

The Court of Appeal for British Columbia has struck down yet another element of the “tough-on-crime” agenda of the Conservative government in a recent decision, Whaling v. Canada (Attorney General), 2012 BCCA 435, holding that the abolition of accelerated parole could not be applied to prisoners sentenced before the coming into force of the Abolition of Early Parole Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

criminal law, mandatory minimum, punishment, retroactivity, sentencing, tough on crime
September 22, 2012

A Strike against Three Strikes

The Superior Court of Ontario has struck down another element of the Conservative government’s “though-on-crime” legislative programme last week, in R. v. Hill, 2012 ONSC 5050. (I blogged about another such case here.) The provision at issue in Hill was s. 753(1.1) of the Criminal Code, which provides that if an accused is convicted of Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

criminal law, dangerous offenders, punishment, sentencing, three-strikes laws, tough on crime