| Two-for-one credit taken out of justice system |
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| Local Content - National News |
| Written by Trevor Busch |
| Thursday, 26 November 2009 17:07 |
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For criminals, the justice system has taken a harder turn this month thanks to new legislation ending two-for-one credit for time served. Bill C-25 amends the Criminal Code to limit the amount of credit individuals convicted of crimes can receive for time spent in pre-trial custody. Held up for review in the Senate in early October, C-25 was recently passed and is coming into effect this month. “It has received royal assent,” said Medicine Hat MP LaVar Payne. “It had been held up for awhile in the Senate, but my understanding was that it received royal assent at the end of October.” Mounting criticism of the unpopular practice amongst members of law enforcement, the justice system, and the public led the Harper Conservatives to draft legislation that would reform the problem earlier this year. Much of the criticism of the previous system focused on the perception that criminals were using the process to circumvent harsher periods of imprisonment by purposely delaying their trials or sentencing to spend more time in remand custody. “Part of the problem was I think was that defence lawyers would delay their cases and delay their cases. While they were waiting for their cases, for every month they delayed taking it into court, they got two months’ reduced sentence. So it was important that they quit the delays and got on with the actual cases. And then individuals, if they were convicted, then their sentence would begin based on a one-for-one,” said Payne. The amendments will not totally eliminate the practice, according to Payne. Under certain circumstances, offering credit for time served will still be under the judge’s discretion. “There are exceptional circumstances that a judge could determine that they may give them one-and-a-half, but no more than that.” For Payne, it was time his government began to deliver on long-standing promises of getting tougher on crime. “We’re hearing from so many people that the justice system isn’t working properly, and criminals are getting off light. So our position has been, and has always been, that we’re tough on crime. We should be tougher on the criminals, and not be so soft on the criminals, because what happens is the people who get harmed by the criminals basically have no recourse. So those are the ones we should be protecting, not the criminals.” Canadians should expect to see more reformations to the justice system in the future, added Payne. “There are some more in the process right now.” Bill C-14, the Organized Crime and Protection of Justice Participants, the first element of the Harper government’s justice initiatives, was passed into law on Oct. 2. |