Sentencing Act

Sentencing Act

An Act to provide for more consistency in sentencing.

Part 1: Amendments

Section 1: Court Room Procedures Act

§1. The Court Room Procedures Act is amended by –

§1.1. Deleting Art. 9 §2.8. and §3.

§1.2. Creating the following new subsections under §2:

“§2.8. If the defense is found to be guilty, the court shall then proceed to mitigation, where mitigating and aggravating factors may be presented and rebutted by both parties. §2.8.1. Regardless of any legislation to the contrary, any party may motion to introduce evidence or witnesses for the purposes listed above when the trial reaches this stage. §2.9. The Judge shall then have twenty-four (24) hours to deliver a sentence.”

§1.3. Creating a new §3. which shall read:

“§3. The defendant may plead guilty at any time during a criminal trial whereupon the trial shall immediately proceed to the procedure listed in §2.8.”

Section 2: Criminal Code 2020

§1. The Criminal Code 2020 is amended by –

§1.1. Deleting Art 6, §1,§2 and §3.

§1.2. Creating a new §1. which shall read:

“§1. In considering a sentence for an Accused, the Judge shall have regard to the Sentencing Act.”

Part 2: Sentencing Factors

Article 1: Sentencing to follow frameworks laid out, etc.

§1. Where a sentencing framework has been provided in the Act, a Judge shall apply the framework in sentencing a defendant, unless the Judge determines that there is reasonable cause not to.

§2. The Judge may also take into consideration the Sentencing Principles listed in this part.

§3. After deciding on an initial sentence, a Judge may then refer to aggravating and mitigating factors to raise or lower the sentence.

§4. A final verdict must contain a section on the consideration of sentencing, including on any mitigating or aggravating factors raised, and whether a framework has been applied.

Article 2: Sentencing Principles

§1. When determining a Sentence, a court may consider –

(a) Severity of the offence;

(b) Social harm caused;

(c) Harm to the victim (if applicable);

(d) Motivations of the offender;

(e) Intent;

(f) Statutory Defences;

(g) Antecedents;

(h) The need for public protection against a defendant;

(i) The need for general deterrence; and,

(j) Such other considerations as a Judge may find to be relevant.

Article 3: Mitigating Factors

§1. Mitigating factors shall include, but not be limited to –

(a) A guilty plea;

(b) Voluntary compensation or an apology;

(c) The past behavior of a defendant;

(d) For group offences, where a defendant has a minor role in the commission of the offence;

(e) Factors codified in the Criminal Code 2020 or other Acts; and,

(f) Such other factors as the court may consider appropriate.

§1.1. To avoid doubt, existing mitigating factors and absolute defences remain in force unless repealed.

Article 4: Aggravating Factors

§1. Aggravating factors shall include, but not be limited to –

(a) Offences committed when on pretrial release;

(b) Planning/Premeditation;

(c) Abuse of trust or a position;

(d) Vulnerability of a victim, if applicable;

(e) Pattern of repeated offending/Antecedents; and,

(f) Such other factors as the court may consider appropriate.

§1.1. To avoid doubt, existing aggravating factors remain in force unless repealed.

§1.2. Factor §1(a) shall result in a minimum sentence of twice the statutory minimum, or two months, where no minimum is provided.

Article 5: Concurrent/Consecutive Sentences

§1. Where a person is sentenced for two or more distinct offences, at least two of the sentences must run consecutively, despite any law to the contrary. Non-distinct offences may receive a concurrent sentence, on the discretion of the Judge.

§1.1. In determining whether an offence is distinct, a judge must consider –

(a) The time when an offence was committed;

(b) Whether the offences presented a similar purpose; and,

(c) The type of charge for each offence.

Part 3: Sentencing Frameworks

Article 6: Frameworks

§1. At least one of the factors must be met for a charge to be placed in a band. A sentence in a band should correspond to the factors of consideration based on severity. Some maximum sentences require aggravating factor(s) to reach.

§2. Criminal Code Sentencing Frameworks:

Art. 50 Spamming and Brigading
Band	Factors of Consideration	Sentence
Band 1	Minimal amount of spam Posted in a short time period Related to conversation No pings	6-24 Hours
Band 2	Posted over multiple time periods Moderate amount of spam Not related to conversation No pings	24 Hours-3 Weeks
Band 3	Mass spamming Posted over multiple time periods Not related to conversation Small or moderate amount of pings	3 Weeks-4 Months
Band 4	Mass spamming Posted over multiple time periods Not related to conversation Large amount of pings	4 Months-7 Months

Art. 53 Harassment (First Degree)
Band	Factors of Consideration	Sentence
Band 1	Victim not seriously affected	1 Month
Band 2	Victim affected One-off event Remorse shown	2 Months-6 Months
Band 3	Victim Greatly Affected Repeated Pattern of Behavior Remorse shown	6 months-1 Year
Band 4	Victim Greatly Affected Repeated Pattern of Behavior No remorse shown	1 Year+
Band 5	Where no remorse is shown and defendant constantly threatens to repeat behavior	Permanent Ban