Thank you for the question, Mr. Ménard.
Taking that position is important. The Bar has always held that the discretion of judges and prosecutors is very important, not only the discretion of judges. For justice to be effective and fair, prosecutors, including police officers, must also have discretion. All those involved must have the capacity to use judgment depending upon the circumstances.
What you are saying is certainly an avenue to explore. Especially if we have no choice but to think in terms of automatic sanctions. The problem is that automatic sanctions eliminate discretion for all. For instance, even in the United States, the guidelines that have been drawn up have been strongly criticized by all those in the field, even the legal field. Case law has developed in such a way that when there is a consent of both parties, judges may stray from the imposed sanctions.
If I may get back to one principle, it would be that of discretion, which we have always been in favour of.