Canada Case Law

R. v. Da Silveira

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Given the aggravating factors (breach of trust, violence against intimate partner and child, presence of loaded firearm and bear spray, evidence of planning in making weapons accessible, significant victim impacts including PTSD in victims and children), and balancing mitigation (first offender, remediation while on remand, guilty pleas, cooperation), the appropriate aggregate custodial sentence was fixed at 8 years before credit but reduced under totality and Summers remand credit to a resultant effective term of 1,688 days (4 years, 7 months and 14 days). Sentence was allocated to counts as…

Source excerpt

• Sentencing
• Aggravated assault
• Unlawful confinement
• Reckless discharge of a firearm
• Pointing a firearm
• Threats to kill

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R. v. Smith

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Because the sentencing judge indicated no reason to depart from the joint submission and no public interest or disrepute grounds existed, the judge was bound to accept the joint submission; the court granted leave to file late, allowed the appeal, and substituted an order to reflect the joint submission exactly.

Source excerpt

• Joint sentencing submission
• Departure from joint submission
• Extension of time to appeal
• Mootness
• Substitution of order

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R. v. Calderon

Court

Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada

The Court Martial Appeal Court held that courts martial cannot impose Criminal Code driving prohibitions absent authority in the NDA, and dismissed the Crown’s sentence appeal.

• Sentencing authority of courts martial
• Interpretation of national defence act s.130
• Driving prohibition orders
• Ancillary orders and prohibitions
• Military-law
• Sentencing-law

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R. v. L.S.

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the conviction appeal in a sexual interference case, upheld the trial judge’s credibility findings, and affirmed the eight-year sentence.

• Sexual interference
• Admission of videotaped statements under s.715.1
• Lost or deleted notes and disclosure
• Ineffective assistance of counsel
• Credibility findings
• Collateral consequences in sentencing

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Quebec (Attorney General) v. Senneville

Court

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and held that mandatory one-year minimum sentences for possessing or accessing child pornography are unconstitutional under s. 12 of the Charter.

• Section 12 charter cruel and unusual punishment
• Mandatory minimum sentences
• Child pornography offences
• Reasonable hypothetical scenarios
• Proportionality in sentencing
• Section-12-charter

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R. v. Cameron

Court

Nova Scotia Provincial Court

Court held that, absent reliable expense evidence, an additional fine under s.79 should reflect the gross value of the illegal catch; applied sentencing principles of proportionality, restraint and totality and imposed fines of CAD 30,000 (closed time) and CAD 10,000 (coordinates) plus a CAD 36,561.35 s.79 fine, ordered one-year VMS installation at defendant's cost, one-year prohibition from fishing groundfish in Division 4S and Subarea 4T2a, and required a sincere letter of apology to the At Sea Observer.

Source excerpt

• Monetary benefits under s.79
• Interpretation of s.79
• Observer safety and obstruction
• Vessel monitoring
• Prohibition orders
• Fines and totality

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R. v. De Castro

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

After guilty pleas to drug trafficking-related offences, the court imposed 12 months’ concurrent imprisonment, rejecting a conditional sentence because of youth involvement and the scale of the operation.

• Possession for purpose of trafficking
• Trafficking
• Conditional sentence
• Denunciation
• Deterrence
• Youth victimization

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R. v. Lee

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Crown appeal allowed from a conditional sentence for aggravated assault; the Court held immigration consequences were given excessive weight and imposed 42 months’ imprisonment.

• Conditional sentence order
• Collateral immigration consequences
• Aggravated assault
• Weapons offences
• Proportionality in sentencing
• Sentence appeal

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R. v. Dupray

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

On sentencing, the Court imposed a conditional sentence order and probation for cocaine-trafficking and firearm possession offences, with forfeiture, DNA, and firearms prohibition orders.

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking
• Conditional sentence order
• Concurrent vs consecutive sentences
• Totality and proportionality
• Ancillary orders (forfeiture, dna, firearms prohibition)
• Conditional-sentence-order

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R. v. Draves

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court accepted a joint sentencing submission and imposed a 10-year global sentence for drug trafficking and firearms offences, with credit for pretrial custody and ancillary orders.

• Trafficking
• Possession
• Firearms possession and prohibition
• Credit for pretrial custody
• Joint sentencing submission
• Totality principle

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