Court Upholds Limiting Conditional Sentences (House Arrest) for Serious Personal Injury Offences
OTTAWA, February 12, 2013 - The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada welcomed today the February 6, 2013 ruling of the Quebec Court of Appeal in the cases of R.v. Perry, R.v. Beaulieu, R.v. Boisclair, and R.v.Pelletier. The ruling relates to the availability of conditional sentences for serious personal injury offences.
"Our Government is committed to keeping our streets and communities safe. Punishments should fit the crime and I am pleased that the Court has upheld important legislation that ensures just that," said Minister Nicholson. "We will continue to put victims first, and remain tough on those convicted of serious and violent crimes.
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A conditional sentence, as originally enacted in 1996, is a term of imprisonment (sometimes known as house arrest) that may be served in the community. In 2006, the Government of Canada introduced amendments to section 742.1 of the Criminal Code to restrict the availability of these types of sentences. Specifically, they were made unavailable for serious personal injury offences, terrorism offences, and organized crime-related offences that are punishable by a term of imprisonment of at least 10 years. Parliament enacted these amendments on May 31, 2007 and they came into force on December 1, 2007.
In the cases of R. v. Perry et al., the trial court judges found that limiting the use of conditional sentences took away part of their judicial discretion. As a result, they allowed conditional sentences to be imposed despite the fact that serious personal injury offences had been found to have occurred. On review, the Quebec Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the constitutionality of section 742.1 of the Criminal Code as amended in 2007 and overturned the trial court decisions thereby ensuring that conditional sentences were no longer available in these cases. These cases can still be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, if leave to do so is sought and granted.
The Safe Streets and Communities Act, which came into force in 2012, included amendments to further limit the use of conditional sentences for serious and violent crime. The amendments expanded the list describing when a conditional sentence is not available to include:
- any offence for which the law prescribes a maximum penalty of 14 years or life imprisonment;
- any offence prosecuted by indictment and for which the law prescribes a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 10 years that results in bodily harm, involves the import/export, trafficking or production of drugs or involves the use of a weapon; and,
- a listed offence prosecuted by indictment and for which the law prescribes a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 10 years - which means that crimes such as theft over $5,000, breaking and entering, and theft of a motor vehicle are now included on the list of indictable offences ineligible for a conditional sentence.
"Ensuring that those who commit violent crimes serve their time behind bars, and not in the comfort of their homes, is an important part of that commitment to ensuring the safety of Canadians,
" said Minister Nicholson.
The Government's Plan for Safe Streets and Communities is one of the key priorities recently identified by the Prime Minister. It focuses on tackling crime, victims' rights, and fair and efficient justice.
Backgrounder: Ending Conditional Sentences and House Arrest
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