🍁 civid v1

Status

• Bill S-208 was introduced in the Senate and received first reading on May 28, 2025.

Criminal Code changes

• Sentencing discretion: The bill would give courts discretion over punishment despite limits prescribed in an enactment, including a declared minimum punishment.
• Minimum imprisonment and parole ineligibility: Before imposing a minimum prison term or period of parole ineligibility under the Criminal Code or another federal Act, a court would have to consider all available alternatives and determine that none is just and reasonable. It would also have to provide written reasons for imposing the minimum.
• Treatment or counselling: A court could delay sentencing, with the convicted person’s consent, so that the person can attend a court-supervised program the court considers appropriate. The court would still have to consider the interests of justice and any victim. The bill would remove the requirement for the Attorney General’s consent.
• Murder jury recommendations: After a jury finds an accused guilty of first- or second-degree murder, the judge would generally have to ask whether it wishes to recommend a parole-ineligibility period. The jury would not have to make a recommendation, but one made would be considered by the judge when deciding whether to substitute another period for the otherwise applicable 25-year or 10-year period.

Who it affects

• The changes would affect courts and people being sentenced for offences, including people convicted of murder. They also affect the Attorney General’s role in delayed sentencing and the role of murder trial juries.
• The preamble identifies concerns about disproportionate sentences and their effects on women, Indigenous Peoples and people with mental disabilities.

Costs and timing

• The provided text specifies no costs, implementation deadline or coming-into-force date.