Post-Sentencing Issues

• Author: William Thompson
• Pages: 467-491

467

Post-Sentencing

Issues

William Thompson

12

I. Commencement of the Sentence: Section () ............... 

II. When Can an Error Be Corrected by the Sentencing Judge? ....... 

III. Corrections Classication and Other Administrative Issues ....... 

IV. Earned Remission for Sentences Served in a Provincial Institution ... 

V. Statutory Release for Sentences Served in a Federal Institution .... 

VI. Conditional Release ....................................... 

VII. Record Suspensions, Pardons, and OtherFormsof Clemency ..... 

A. Record Suspensions ................................. 

B. The Royal Prerogative of Mercy: Sections  and . .... 

C. Expungement ...................................... 

Copyright © 2024 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

468 Sentencing: Principles and Practice

It is tempting for trial counsel to consider what happens after you walk out of the

courtroom at the end of a sentencing hearing as someone else’s concern. However, it

is necessary, for a number of reasons, to know how the mechanics of actually carry-

ing out a sentence work. Most important for defence counsel is to understand that a

defendant’s decisions about the merits of a resolution and the risks inherent in a con-

tested trial or sentencing are likely to be informed by practical considerations of how

any potential sentence will work in real life. In making decisions about a resolution, a

defendant is likely to want to understand when they can realistically anticipate being

released, where they might serve their sentence, and the factors that might influence

how quickly they can be released. Similarly, Crowns and sentencing judges need to

understand how the process unfolds post-sentencing to ensure that the sentences

they advocate for and impose can realistically achieve the objectives they want to

meet. This chapter provides a thumbnail sketch of how sentences are carried out after

the judge imposes them.

I. Commencement of the Sentence: Section 719(1)

A person’s sentence begins as soon as it is imposed by the sentencing judge.1 One of

the few exceptions to this rule is section 42(12) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act,2

which expressly allows a youth sentence to begin when imposed or at some later date

specified by the sentencing judge. For example, in R v LAJ,3 the Alberta Court of

Appeal deferred the start of a custodial sentence by five months to allow the defend-

ant to serve it after the end of the school year.4

When a person receives a new sentence while they are in the process of serving

an existing sentence, the two sentences merge into one sentence for administrative

purposes.5 The merged sentence begins on the date that the first sentence started

and ends at the end of the second sentence. The merged sentence is then used to

calculate eligibility for conditional release, statutory release, and the formal end of

the sentence.

II. When Can an Error Be Corrected by the

Sentencing Judge?

Mistakes happen. Crafting a fit sentence is often a complicated and detail-oriented

task, and the chaotic environment of a typical plea court does not lend itself to

1 Criminal Code, s719(1).

2 SC 2002, c 1.

3 2005 ABCA 113.

4 Ibid at para 12. Further reference may be made to Chapter 11, Sentencing Young Persons, at

Section V.C.4.

5 Corrections and Conditional Release Act, SC 1992, c 20, s139 [CCRA].

Copyright © 2024 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.