(Pictured on the homepage: Eric Gottardi, CBA Pro Bono Counsel)
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on April 15 in R. v. Lloyd that a one-year mandatory minimum drug sentence is unconstitutional as it violates section 12 of the Charter (cruel and unusual punishment). The law would require the same mandatory minimum sentence for a broad range of conduct and different circumstances of individual offenders. While some may deserve that sentence, others will not. A law that casts such a broad net and doesn’t allow trial judges to take the situation into account will be constitutionally vulnerable.
The CBA intervened in the appeal and thanks Eric Gottardi and Mila Shah of Peck and Company, who acted pro bono for the CBA.
Read the CBA National ABC blog post about the decision.
Read the SCC decision.