In this guide, you will find information, resources and links about sentencing law in criminal cases. This includes some of the following subjects:
- Principles
- Quantums (the range and types of sentences for offences)
- Sentencing in youth criminal justice & young offenders
- Sentencing for controlled drugs and substances
- Sentencing weapons offences
For further information on other areas of criminal law, check out our research guides on:
- Criminal Law – Drug Offences
- Criminal Law – Impaired Driving
- Criminal Law – Youth
- Criminal Procedure
Texts
Principles
- Annual review of criminal law by Gold et al. Table of Contents
- Criminal Law: Evidence, Practice and Procedure by John L. Gibson Table of Contents
Chapter 54 provides commentary on procedural aspects of sentencing proceedings. - Criminal Pleadings and Practice in Canada, 3rd ed. by Eugene G. Ewaschuk Table of Contents
Chapter 18 discusses sentencing principles and provides citations to key case law. - Handling summary conviction offences 2023 by the Honourable Justice Rick Libman Table of Contents
- Sentencing, 10th ed. by Clayton C. Ruby Table of Contents
- Sentencing in Canada : essays in law, policy, and practice by David Cole & Julian Roberts Table of Contents. Also available as an e-text.
- Sentencing : principles and practice by Danielle Robitaille & Erin Winocur Table of Contents. Also available as an e-text.
- Sentencing principles procedure and practice, 2022 by Lyndon Harris & Sebastian Walker Table of Contents
- Sentencing ranges for criminal offences by Clayton Ruby & Shelia Nemet-Brown Table of Contents
- Speaking to Sentence: A Practical Guide by Gilles Renaud Table of Contents
Last revised Feb. 9, 2023
Quantums
- Canadian Sentencing Digest: Quantum Service by R. Paul Nadin-Davis, Clarey Sproule Table of Contents
- Rangefindr.ca – E-Resource used to find criminal sentencing ranges
- Martin’s Annual Criminal Code by J.C. Martin Table of Contents Includes an Offence Grid which visually shows whether offence is indictable, summary or hybrid; maximum/minimum sentences, available sentencing options, and illegal sentences.
Last revised Apr. 6, 2023
Young Offenders
- Youth Criminal Justice Law, 3rd ed. by Nicholas Bala & Sanjeev Anand Table of Contents
Last revised Feb 9, 2023
Drug Offences
- Drug Offences in Canada, 3rd ed. by Bruce A. MacFarlane Table of Contents
- Prosecuting and Defending Drug offences, 2nd ed. by Peter Brauti Table of Contents
- Prosecuting and Defending drug cases : a practitioners handbook by Nathan Gorham, Jeremy Streeter, Breana Vandebeek et al. Table of Contents Also available as an e-text
- Sentencing Drug Offenders by Simon Armstrong Table of Contents
Last revised Feb. 9, 2023
Weapons Offences
- Weapons Offences Manual by Peter Harris & Miriam Bloomenfeld Table of Contents
Last revised Feb. 9, 2023
Impaired Driving
- Breathalyzer Law in Canada : the Prosecution and Defence of Drinking and Driving Offences, 5th ed. by Roderick McLeod, John Takach, Murray Segal Table of Contents
- Defending Drinking, Drugs and Driving Cases by Alan Gold Table of Contents
- Drug-Impaired Driving in Canada by Nathan Baker Table of Contents
- Impaired Driving in Canada, 5th ed. by Joseph Kenkel Table of Contents
- Impaired Driving in Canada the Charter Cases, 4th ed. by Joseph Kenkel Table of Contents
Last revised Feb. 9, 2023
Case Law
For more information on finding cases see our research guide: Finding and researching cases
E-Resources
- ICLR
- LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®
- Rangfindr – electronic source for criminal sentencing ranges
- vLex Justis
- Westlaw Canada
Alberta Court Judgments
A collection of the judgments of the Alberta Courts is available from CanLII. The official version of the reasons for judgment is the signed original or handwritten endorsement in the court file. If there is a question about the content of a judgment, the original court file takes precedence.
Digests
The Canadian Abridgment available on: Westlaw Canada
All Canadian Summaries, Canadian Case Summaries and Canada Digest are available on: LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®
Legislation
Federal
- Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, SC 1996, c 19
- Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46
- Firearms Act, SC 1995, c 39
- Youth Criminal Justice Act, SC 2002, c 1
Federal Acts and Regulations can be found electronically at:
Encyclopedias
Canadian Encyclopedic Digest
Canadian encyclopedic digest (C.E.D.) (Western)
Sections related to Sentencing include:
- Sentencing.
- Youth Criminal Justice.
The CED provides discussion of these areas of law with annotations to legislation and case law. Additional information may be found by searching the indexes or database using the keywords “impaired driving,” “driving while impaired,” “breathalyzer,” “breath sample,” “blood sample,” etc.
Also available electronically through: Westlaw Canada
Halsbury's Laws of Canada
Halsbury’s laws of Canada is a multi-volume set includes coverage of Federal, Provincial & Territorial legislation. Also available electronically through: LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®
Titles related to Sentencing include:
- Controlled Drugs and Cannabis (HDS)
- Criminal Procedure (HC2)
- Firearms, Weapons and Explosives (HFW)
- Youth Justice (HYJ)
Additional information may be found under other topical headings.
Journals
E-Resources
- Index to Canadian Legal Literature (ICLL) available electronically on Westlaw Canada and Lexis Advance® Quicklaw®
- Current index to Legal Periodicals – Available electronically on HeinOnline
- LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®
- Westlaw Canada – Contains a collection of Canadian journals and law reviews, as well as all articles and case comments appearing in Carswell law reports.
- HeinOnline – provides full-text access to Canadian and international law reviews and legal journals, including Federal Sentencing Reporter (FSR)
- Canadian Criminal Law Review (Can Crim L Rev) / Revue canadienne de droit pénal (RCDP)
- Criminal Law Quarterly (Crim LQ) Also available through HeinOnline
- For the Defence Criminal Lawyers’ Association Newsletter
Websites
Alberta
- Guilty Pleas and Sentencing 2020 Student Legal Services of Edmonton
- Guide to Sentencing Resources Legislative Assembly of Alberta
National
- Criminal Lawyers’ Association
- Sentencing & Parole ClickLaw BC
- Sentencing Guide for Transgender Offenders – Rangefindr.ca
- Sentencing Guide for Fentanyl Trafficking – Ontario – Rangefindr.ca
- Parole Board of Canada
- Forum on Corrections Research
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