Homicide Sentencing for Young Persons
| This page was last substantively updated or reviewed January 2020. (Rev. # 99432) |
General Principles
- Imprisonment for Life
...
- Persons under eighteen
745.1 The sentence to be pronounced against a person who was under the age of eighteen at the time of the commission of the offence for which the person was convicted of first degree murder or second degree murder and who is to be sentenced to imprisonment for life shall be that the person be sentenced to imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served
- (a) such period between five and seven years of the sentence as is specified by the judge presiding at the trial, or if no period is specified by the judge presiding at the trial, five years, in the case of a person who was under the age of sixteen at the time of the commission of the offence;
- (b) ten years, in the case of a person convicted of first degree murder who was sixteen or seventeen years of age at the time of the commission of the offence; and
- (c) seven years, in the case of a person convicted of second degree murder who was sixteen or seventeen years of age at the time of the commission of the offence.
1995, c. 22, ss. 6, 21.
42
[omitted (1)]
- Youth sentence
(2) When a youth justice court finds a young person guilty of an offence and is imposing a youth sentence, the court shall, subject to this section, impose any one of the following sanctions or any number of them that are not inconsistent with each other and, if the offence is first degree murder or second degree murder within the meaning of section 231 of the Criminal Code [classification of murder], the court shall impose a sanction set out in paragraph (q) [youth sentences – custody and supervision order (murder)] or subparagraph (r)(ii) or (iii) [youth sentences – IRCS's re first and second degree murder] and may impose any other of the sanctions set out in this subsection that the court considers appropriate: [omitted (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l), (m), (n), (o) and (p)]
- (q) order the young person to serve a sentence not to exceed
- (i) in the case of first degree murder, ten years comprised of
- (A) a committal to custody, to be served continuously, for a period that must not, subject to subsection 104(1) (continuation of custody), exceed six years from the date of committal, and
- (B) a placement under conditional supervision to be served in the community in accordance with section 105, and
- (ii) in the case of second degree murder, seven years comprised of
- (A) a committal to custody, to be served continuously, for a period that must not, subject to subsection 104(1) (continuation of custody), exceed four years from the date of committal, and
- (B) a placement under conditional supervision to be served in the community in accordance with section 105 [conditional supervision];
[omitted (r) and (s)]
[omitted (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16) and (17)]
2002, c. 1, s. 42; 2012, c. 1, s. 174; 2019, c. 25, s. 373.