This week, we’re speaking about sentencing law, with Jonathan Rudin, the program director of Aboriginal Legal Services.
Topics: removing restrictions on conditional sentences (Sharma), parole eligibility for murder offences (Bissonnette), community impact statements, and more!
Full Episode (56:49) Download
⚫ How do the Charter issues in Sharma challenge the constitutionality of restrictions of conditional sentences? (5:41)
⚫ How is the Quebec City mosque shooting case re-engaging the conversation on parole eligibility for offences involving multiple murders? (17:28)
⚫ How can community impact statements be used in the sentencing process to reflect the harm and impact of crimes on a community? (28:25)
⚫ Our Ask-Me-Anything segment, featuring questions submitted by patrons of the Lawyered community (39:05)
? How the criminal justice system has addressed the sentencing of Aboriginal persons, post-Gladue? (44:18)
? Will Bill C-22 (which would repeal mandatory minimums for drug offences) represent a shift towards repealing mandatory minimums on a wholesale basis? (40:08)
? How has the Truth in Sentencing Act (Bill C-25) impacted the role of pre-trial custody? (46:24)
? What are some factors that would influence whether a convicted person ought to receive an incarceration offence as opposed to a fine? (49:17)
? Do you think that any of s. 718 Criminal Code sentencing factors are/should be more determinative than others in sentencing decisions? (50:34)
1. R. v. Sharma: Eliminating Restrictions on Conditional Sentences (16:35) Download
– R. v. Sharma, 2020 ONCA 478
– R. v. Sharma, 2018 ONSC 1141
2. R. v. Bissonnette: Multiple Murders and Cruel and Unusual Punishment (14:18) Download
– Bissonnette c. R., 2020 QCCA 1585
– R. c. Bissonnette, 2019 QCCS 354
3. Community Impact Statements: Victims’ Representation in Sentencing (13:49) Download
– “Community Impact Statements” (Department of Justice FactSheet)
– “Recent Developments in Victim and Community Participation in Criminal Justice”, Marie Manikis ( Victims of Crime Research Digest No. 12)
4. Ask-Me-Anything: Sentencing Law (17:49) Download
? How the criminal justice system has addressed the sentencing of Aboriginal persons, post-Gladue?
? Will Bill C-22 (which would repeal mandatory minimums for drug offences) represent a shift towards repealing mandatory minimums on a wholesale basis?
? How has the Truth in Sentencing Act (Bill C-25) impacted the role of pre-trial custody?
? What are some factors that would influence whether a convicted person ought to receive an incarceration offence as opposed to a fine?
? Do you think that any of s. 718 Criminal Code sentencing factors are/should be more determinative than others in sentencing decisions?
About the Guest:
Jonathan Rudin is the founder and program director of Aboriginal Legal Services in Toronto (“ALST”).
At ALST he helped establish the Community Council – the first urban Aboriginal justice program in Canada in 1992, and in 2001 helped establish the Gladue (Aboriginal Persons) Court at the Old City Hall Courts in Toronto. Mr. Rudin has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada including representing ALST before the Supreme Court in R. v. Ipeelee. Mr. Rudin has written and spoken widely on issues of Aboriginal justice. He co-wrote the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples’ report on Justice – Bridging the Cultural Divide- and was a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Ipperwash Inquiry.
He is also the author of the text “Indigenous People and the Criminal Justice System”, published by Emond and a second edition will be available during the summer of 2022. Finally, Jonathan teaches as part of the Osgoode Hall Law School Masters of Laws program and, starting in the fall of 2021, he will also be the constitutional litigator in residence at the Asper Centre at the U of T Law School.
Jonathan’s Bio
Jonathan’s Email Address