The Canadian Court System Sentencing Procedure

This paper will be focusing on the controversial issue of mandatory minimum sentences in Canada. There has been much debate over this topic, as it has quickly become implemented for the sentencing of drug offenders, drug-related crimes and banned firearm offences. I will argue that every case that comes through the criminal justice system is different and deserves a fair trial with a sentence that is not already determined for them. There have been many cases where the judge has no discretion in the sentence due to the mandatory minimum sentences pre-determined for the case, no matter what the aggravating or mitigating factors were. I will argue that the mandatory minimum sentences in Canada should be reduced or eliminated as

In contrast to the Canadian parliamentary system, which has remained fairly static and unchanged since Victorian times, the Canadian legal system has undergone a tremendous evolution over the last century and a half. When looking at Canadian history in depth one discovers the repeated movement to take power from the superiors or the overruling and place it into the palms of the people. As seen through examples our western law (canadian law) has slowly branched off from the supremacy of God (mosaic law), to the supremacy of the monarchy (bristish law), finally to a realization of the importance of citizen participation in the creating, governing, and administrating of the laws (Greek law).

The Canadian criminal justice system consists of multiple roles in order to sustain a well-working government system. The system is put in place in order to keep safety, equality, peace and fairness. There are four main functions of the criminal justice system that are interrelated segments that help protect a society from crime. The criminal justice system consists of policing, courts, corrections and parole. The component of the Canadian Criminal Justice System that will be discussed is about the process and function of the courts.

The Canadian Criminal Justice System is, for the most part, reflective of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and various Supreme Court of Canada case-law. Everyone who finds themselves on the opposing end of the Criminal Justice System is entitled to certain protections every step of the way, beginning even before the arrest; laws protect us from unreasonable investigative techniques, guarantee certain rights at point of arrest, and provide us with the right to counsel. The bail court departs from the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ standard in that the crown only needs to prove on a balance of probabilities (Kellough, 1996, p. 175) in order to take away a person’s freedom. It is for this reason I decided to limit the scope of my

The Canadian criminal justice system collects statistics and data on a variety of topics in respect to both offenders and victims. Some of the data that is collected include information about an offender or victim's age, race, and marital status. Whether or not data should be collected and what kind of data that is being collected has been a topic of controversy. Canada has no official policy regarding the use of racial profiling, but that does not mean that it is not prevalent in our society. It is known that making information about the race of an offender public potentially leads to racial profiling by the public; however the collection of data is important for other areas of the criminal justice system. Collecting data for use in the criminal

Canada’s Criminal Justice System and its personnel’s may not be as perfect as it is portrayed. Authorities such as the police and judges are shown as making ethical decisions in favor of peace, equity, and justice in society, although, they may go beyond their boundaries and abuse their powers and authority and are subject to review. In this paper I will discuss how police and judges abuse their powers and authority within the Canadian Justice System and how it is dealt with as well as critique it from both an advantageous and disadvantageous perspective. First, I will discuss the mechanisms, such as the guidelines and rules

Although, Canada offers comparable qualities and values with other countries, The Charter of Rights and Freedoms really separates Canada from other social liberties enactments. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms upholds the diversity of differing qualities of Canadian culture and assures the freedom of individuals that lengthens boundaries apparent to the constitutionalized law. Thusly, contrasted with different nations, Canada’s judiciary performs a huge part in deciphering the law. Considering the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which consists of basic human rights, it is evident that Canada has many significant laws that acknowledge and protect the rights and freedoms including the liberty and equality of citizens.

We say that slavery has vanished from European civilization, but this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it applies only to women and its name is prostitution The 4th of November 2014 is a day that will be remembered as the most notorious day in the history of the Canadian Justice System. On November 4th 2014, the most controversial prostitution bill “Protection of Community and Endangered Persons Act”, also known as C-36 was passed in the Supreme Court of Canada. According to this law, the ‘sale of sex’ has to be regarded as a legal act. However, the law did not include several other aspects of the prostitution trade. The sale of sexual services between the prostitutes and pimps is still to be categorized as an illegal act. The new law passed by Canada’s legislation is inspired by the “Nordic Model” of prostitution that was initially adopted in 1999 by Sweden. The Nordic Model of Prostitution states that prostitution is not prohibited, but paying for sex is. This model aspires to remove the deep-rooted problem of prostitution from the system, without actually subjecting and targeting the prostitutes, who are themselves often the victims of sex-trafficking. This Paper will argue that despite the fact that C-36 was a smart move taken by the government of Canada in response to SCC’s Criticism, this law might not be the most appropriate approach towards eliminating sex trade off the streets.

Firstly, through my observations of the different courts it was evident the administration of justice is done in due time, and the process is not expedited without an outstanding reason as it can lead to misguided verdict. Furthermore, the criminal trial process in our society focuses on equality and promotes this principle by entitling an accused of even the most heinous crimes to civil liberties and processes as not to compromise the criminal trial process. A fair trial is an intrinsic right of all members of society making it fundamental to our being, and is ergo ensured to us all under s.11 of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms.

The Criminal Justice System [in Canada] aims to “deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent” (Garside, 2008), however, this definition curated by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies is inherently vague and does not encompass numerous vital aspects associated with the criminal justice system. A key component in the institutional structure of the criminal justice system is the involvement and integration of the government. In Canada, the government openly plays an integral role in the formations of policies, regulations, and procedures within the justice system, however, policies, regulations and procedures that are not directly linked to the criminal

The Canadian Criminal Justice System is a system that is rooted in fairness, justice, and equality. It does not discriminate against religion, sex, or race, and it is governed by the rule of equity. All this would suggest that the Canadian Criminal Justice System is one that Canadians can have faith in, knowing that the system will protect everyone: society from the criminals, and innocent people from wrongful incarceration. It is interesting, then, that Canadians actually have quite little faith in the system; a study done by Ipsos-Reid for Justice Canada revealed that “only 17 per cent of respondents had high confidence, while 61 per cent had moderate faith and 22 per cent had low level of trust [in the adult criminal justice system]… and only 15 per cent had a high level, 56 per cent had a moderate level and 30 per cent have low confidence [in the youth justice system].” (Harris) It is through cases such as the Steven Truscott case, the Coffin case, and the Karla Homolka case that Canadian faith in the Justice System weakens, cases where the two former individuals were wrongfully convicted of their charges, and where the latter was given a lenient sentence.

The aspect of the Canadian justice system that this article relates to is obviously policing/ law enforcement. Specifically this article goes into the regulations of policing as Ontario police officers now have to follow stricter regulations when stopping any member of the public. This is important in relation to the Canadian justice system as police officers stopping citizens is considered a controversial issue as people feel random stops or carding are considered arbitrary, and unnecessary, and this violates section 9 of the charter of rights and freedoms which states that “everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned”. (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) and Carding is “A practice by which officers stop, question,

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms entrenched under the CA 1982 act in the Canadian constitution is seen as a decisive indicator of national identity by the majority of Canadians. The charter’s role in Canadian society ranges from providing individuals with intrinsic human rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of belief and acts particularly as a concrete limit on ‘tyranny of the majority’, advocating and enforcing basic rights of individuals and minorities. It is however worthy to note that CA 1982’s involvement as a platform to increased activism of the Supreme court in Canada is highly controversial. Employing the charter as a basis to the interpretation of different situations, the Canadian Supreme Court has in many occasions

John Crawford committed his first murder in 1981, two days before Christmas after meeting a woman at the bar. He was convicted of that murder and was sentenced to jail until 1989 after being paroled. Only 3 years after being given his life back, he took the lives of 3 others. He was finally caught and convicted in 1996 of the 3 murders and got 3 life sentences. If only we had the death penalty, those 3 women would still be alive today. In Canada, the most serious sentence for murder is life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. In some cases, these criminals are eligible for parole within years of their sentencing. However, that is just not good enough. We cannot allow criminals to run free only years after their previous illegal

When I am first given something to do I first figure out how long it will take for me to complete the task and how big the task is. Then I look at several possible ways to approach the task then I start the task. When it came to applying to college, I knew that before I went and applied for the school I had to first visit the school to make sure I was interested in the school. Then I looked at the schools I wanted to go to and looked at the requirements for me to get in each. Lastly I applied to my college of chose. Knowing what I know now I would have probably applied for my scholarships in high school to make it easier for me in