International Law

R. v. Ferguson (SCC)

The Supreme Court of Canada passed down its ruling today in R. v. Ferguson (for some background on what the case was about and the decisions in the lower courts, see my earlier comment here). The news media have been all over it (CBC, Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star). The main issue was whether there could be constitutional exemptions to mandatory sentences, which is a bit of a hot topic these days. And on this issue the Court (in a unanimous ruling written by the Chief Justice) was clear: “I conclude that constitutional exemptions should not be recognized as a remedy for cruel and unusual punishment imposed by a law prescribing a minimum sentence. If a law providing for a mandatory minimum sentence is found to violate the Charter, it should be declared inconsistent with the Charter and hence of no force and effect under s. 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982.” The main rationale is that such exemptions undermine both the will of parliament and the rule of law.

Full post as published by Criminal Review on February 29, 2008 (boomark / email).