Foreword

• Pages: 23-24

xxiii

Foreword

Justice Michael Moldaver, Supreme Court of Canada

’    the product of decades of legislative

innovation and augmentation. Except in the case of mandatory min-

imum provisions, sentencing is now a matter of judicial discretion

guided by the purposes, principles, and objectives set out in the Criminal

Code, sections –.. Among the principles of sentencing referred

to in these provisions, the principle of proportionality is identied as

fundamental: a sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the

oence and the degree of responsibility of the oender. e discretion

to craft highly individualized sentences is a key feature of the Canadian

approach to sentencing. Section  refers to a number of sentencing

objectives, some of which include deterrence, denunciation, separation

of oenders from society where necessary, and rehabilitation. Finally,

among other things, section . sets out several aggravating and miti-

gating features that a court may consider in crafting a just sentence.

at said, as this collection of essays demonstrates, it would be

wrong to conclude that the various principles and objectives of sen-

tencing are as easy to apply as they are to state. It has been said time

and again that sentencing is one of the most dicult tasks judges face.

I can attest to this. After almost thirty years as a judge, I nd that sen-

tencing does not get any easier. Sentencing requires striking a delicate

balance between numerous case-specic considerations: considerations