Sentencing Introduction
Preface
This text was written as a reference on the law of sentencing for Canadian criminal offences. The audience for this text will be mostly criminal law practitioners, police officers, and law students, who need a convenient way to look up principles and case law. Where possible there are links to cited cases on CanLII for ease of reference.
As of this writing this text remains a work in progress. Errors and omissions should be expected and so it is always recommended that source materials be consulted to confirm the contents of this reference.
Organization of the Section
The section is organized into six parts. The part begins covering the principles and factors of sentencing that apply to just about every sentencing hearing.
The second part reviews the available sentences to a sentencing judge. There are the obvious tools of jail, probation and fines, as well as the many additional options available from ancillary sentencing orders.
The next part covers the procedural elements of sentencing, much of it focusing on the evidential rules that set out what the judge can consider when crafting an appropriate sentence.
The fourth part covers the principles and case law associated with specific offences. Certain offences include lengthy tables of prior sentences as references.
The following part cover special issues raised post-sentence by parole as well as the manner of dealing with the most dangerous offenders with Long-Term Orders and Dangerous Offender Orders. The final part deals with the particular rules around sentencing of youths.