Sentencing

R. v. Arcand, [2010] A.J. No. 1383 is an important sentencing case out of the Alberta Court of Appeal. Read fairly the case is a call for sentencing guidelines.

The difficulty with such guidelines is that they are inevitably subject to political pressures.

Moreover, to the writer's thinking, Canadian sentences are not arbitrary or unprincipled. Nevertheless, the decision is worth a close read.

The Court says:

8     We must face up to five sentencing truths. First, it is notorious amongst judges, of whom there are now approximately 2,100 in this country at three court levels, that one of the most controversial subjects, both in theory and practical application, is sentencing. That takes us to the second truth. The proposition that if judges knew the facts of a given case, they would all agree, or substantially agree on the result, is simply not so. The third truth. Judges are not the only ones who know truths one and two, and thus judge shopping is alive and well in Canada - and fighting hard to stay that way. All lead inescapably to the fourth truth. Without reasonable uniformity of approach to sentencing amongst trial and appellate judges in Canada, many of the sentencing objectives and principles prescribed in the Code are not attainable. This makes the search for just sanctions at best a lottery, and at worst a myth. Pretending otherwise obscures the need for Canadian courts to do what Parliament has asked: minimize unjustified disparity in sentencing while maintaining flexibility. The final truth. If the courts do not act to vindicate the promises of the law, and public confidence diminishes, then Parliament will.