Three laws creating mandatory minimum sentences have now been struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The list of criminal\u00a0laws passed by the Stephen Harper government\u00a0that have since been struck down by Canadian courts\u00a0is growing steadily<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trend’s latest casualty\u00a0came Friday, when\u00a0the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a 2011 change to the Criminal Code that required sex offenders to be automatically added to the National Sex Offender Registry \u2014 a lifelong designation for anyone convicted of two sex offences or more<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a split decision, the court found that the law was\u00a0 The decision is just the most recent\u00a0in a long series of court\u00a0rulings that have undone Harper-era sentencing reforms<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three laws creating mandatory minimum sentences that were passed by Harper’s Conservative government have now been struck down by the Supreme Court, and\u00a0another 25 have been struck down in various provinces and territories, according to research by Toronto-based lawyer Matthew Oleynik<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taken together, the rulings suggest that\u00a0Canadian courts are likely to reject future attempts by lawmakers to limit the decision-making power of judges in sentencing, or to enforce blanket approaches to punishment, several criminal and constitutional law experts told CBC<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of the Harper-era criminal law reforms were contained\u00a0in three major pieces of legislation: the omnibus Safe Streets and Communities Act in 2012, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act in 2014 and the Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act in 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n These acts, among others, introduced mandatory minimum sentences and otherwise bolstered punishment for a range of criminal offences<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eric Gottardi, a Vancouver-based lawyer and defence attorney, said\u00a0 Gottardi said he testified at committee hearings during Harper’s time in office to warn lawmakers that the bills might be unconstitutional<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carissima Mathen, a professor of constitutional and criminal law at the University of Ottawa, said blanket rules on sentencing are\u00a0 But mandatory minimum sentences\u00a0agreed with\u00a0the\u00a0 Conservative justice critic Rob Moore questioned\u00a0the latest Supreme Court decision<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of the ruling, he said, many people convicted of sexual offences will be exempted from being listed on the registry. He said the original legislation was supported by all parties when it was passed<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other Harper-era crime\u00a0laws may soon\u00a0face challenges<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Supreme Court will rule\u00a0Friday\u00a0on a case that tests the constitutionality of a law that prevented a judge from allowing a young Indigenous woman to avoid jail by serving a conditional sentence<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing back Harper-era sentencing changes as well. Legislation is\u00a0before the\u00a0Senate that would\u00a0eliminate mandatory minimum penalties for 14 firearm\u00a0and tobacco-related offences and\u00a0six\u00a0drug offences<\/p>\n\n\n\n CBC News<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three laws creating mandatory minimum sentences have now been struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada The list of criminal\u00a0laws passed by the Stephen Harper government\u00a0that have since been struck down by Canadian courts\u00a0is growing steadily The trend’s latest casualty\u00a0came Friday, when\u00a0the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a 2011 change to the Criminal Code […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":12040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"enable_post_split":"0","post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48,47],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nover-broad<\/q>\u00a0and cast\u00a0
too wide a net<\/q>\u00a0because it captured\u00a0offenders who\u00a0presented\u00a0a low risk of re-offending<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Harper sentencing law legacy has caused many years of litigation at extraordinary public expense, but it is slowly but surely being undone,<\/q>\u00a0Lisa Kerr, a professor of criminal law at Queen’s University, said in an email<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘One-size-fits-all’ approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
law and order<\/q>\u00a0policies remain popular with voters \u2014 despite research from Canada and the United States\u00a0suggesting that longer jail terms and harsher penalties do little to reduce crime<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prior government just tried to paint whole classes of people with a broad brush,<\/q>\u00a0Gottardi said.\u00a0
Justice doesn’t have to be a one-size-fits-all kind of approach<\/q><\/p>\n\n\n\n
often just too crude of a tool<\/q><\/p>\n\n\n\n
tough on crime<\/q>\u00a0messaging of the government at the time, University of Guelph professor of political science Kate Puddister said in an email<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘A critical shift in the law’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This is a critical shift in the law and it disproportionately impacts women and children. It must be taken very seriously,<\/q>\u00a0Moore said\u00a0in an email statement<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any mandatory minimum penalty is on difficult footing,<\/q>\u00a0Gottardi said<\/p>\n\n\n\n