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- Title
The Origins, Evolution and Puzzling Irrelevance of Jury Recommendations in Second-Degree Murder Sentencing.
- Authors
Rankin, Micah B.
- Abstract
Section 745 of the Criminal Code is currently the only area of Canadian sentencing law that contemplates a role for juries. It grants juries the ability to recommend periods of parole ineligibility immediately following a guilty verdict in second-degree murder cases. This power is a remnant of a 1961 amendment to the Criminal Code that empowered juries to recommend clemency in capital murder cases. Although capital punishment has long since been repealed, jury involvement in sentencing persists-at least on paper. This article demonstrates that despite the codification of jury recommendations, Canadian courts have shown remarkable reluctance to give them meaningful weight in sentencing. A survey of the jurisprudence reveals that courts have several concerns related to jury recommendations, including the jury's limited understanding of the legal principles of sentencing and the undue burden that the additional responsibility places on the already exhausted jurors. Although some courts pay lip service to jury recommendations, it is evident from the jurisprudence that the courts consider the power to be irrelevant. After weighing the potential benefits of retaining jury recommendations, this article argues that they have been judicially repealed for sound reasons of principle and policy, and accordingly should be formally removed from the Criminal Code.
- Subjects
CANADA; JURY sentencing (Criminal procedure); CAPITAL punishment; CRIMINAL codes; CRIMINAL sentencing; CRIMINAL law; MURDER -- Law &; legislation
- Publication
Queen's Law Journal, 2015, Vol 40, Issue 2, p531
- ISSN
0316-778X
- Publication type
Case Study