Justice committee  No, Anthony Doob on the university website has a great summary of criminological studies, which comes out on a quarterly basis. The preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that mandatory minimum sentences don't have any effect on deterrence.

Justice committee  Not from the research that I've seen.

Justice committee  I think so. We can see this in some of the other offences that have minimum sentences. Also, the offence can relate to more than one section of the Criminal Code. When you have a mandatory minimum sentence and an offence that doesn't have a mandatory minimum sentence, there is of

Justice committee  Let's first be very clear. The sentence of five years for kidnapping a child will in the vast majority of cases be appropriate. If the committee reflects on prior judicial decisions, a sentence of more than five years is very common. Our point is simply that looking at this piece

Justice committee  Certainly the case law demonstrates that what some of us call the tariff for these offences is very high. Having a mandatory minimum sentence won't affect those sentencing decisions. I mean, the mandatory minimum sentence will be a starting point, as the Supreme Court said, for t

Justice committee  Thank you very much. I should first say that it's a pleasure to be here. It's always a pleasure to address the honourable members of the committee. My name is Michael Spratt. I'm a criminal lawyer. I practise solely criminal law here in Ottawa, Ontario. I'm with the firm Webbe