For Immediate Release
October 4, 2006
OTTAWA – The Canadian Bar Association’s National Criminal Justice Section says that Criminal Code amendments (Bill C-9) calling for the elimination of conditional sentences for many categories of offences should not be enacted, and proposes alternatives that would better protect public safety by disallowing their use for serious, violent offences.
“The CBA supports measures that will lead to a safer society,” says Adrian Brooks of Victoria, member of the National Criminal Justice Section. “However, that goal requires more than relying only on incarceration. Conditional sentences provide an important alternative, and are often appropriate for less serious or non-violent offences.
“A safe and just society requires that we do not incarcerate people unless it is necessary, and that we trust our judges to find the least intrusive sanction appropriate to the offence and offender once they have heard all the details of the particular case,” adds Brooks.
The CBA favours an approach that takes into account all sentencing principles and relies on judicial discretion in sentencing. “A wide range of sentencing options enables trial judges to design a balanced, just and appropriate sentence for each individual case,” says the CBA submission.
The CBA stresses that conditional sentences are a valuable sentencing option for the many cases where public safety does not require incarceration. “The government’s proposal to prohibit their use for all offences with a maximum sentence of 10 years or more is much too broad. The Criminal Code sets a wide range of sentences for most offences, to allow a short or alternative sentence for less serious acts and the maximum sentence for the most egregious examples.”
Brooks says that Bill C-9 would severely curtail judges’ ability to make the punishment fit the crime and directly conflicts with established sentencing principles of proportionality, restraint and the obligation of imposing the least restrictive sanction appropriate to the circumstances.”
Brooks will present the CBA’s submission to the Commons Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 371 West Block. Copies of the submission are available on the CBA website at:
http://www.cba.org/CBA/submissions/pdf/06-42-eng.pdf
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 36,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Tel: (613) 237-2925, ext. 146; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
