A landmark case came down from the Supreme Court of Canada today regarding sentencing in historical (old) charges. This case is extremely important for anyone who is pleading guilty to or is found guilty of a historical sexual assault.
Previous to the decision in Poulin, the rule was that if you committed an offence and the legislation changed between the offence date and the sentencing date, you would get the benefit of whatever the most favourable sentence was.
This applied even if the legislated sentence changed multiple times in the intervening time period. For accused people charged with a crime that was committed years ago, this meant that there were many different options for sentencing.
The Accused in Poulin appeared to have the option of a conditional sentence order available to him because, for a period of time between the offence date and the sentencing date, that was an available sentence.
However, both at the time of offending and at the time of sentencing, the legislated sentence involved jail time. The sentencing judge had given Mr. Poulin a conditional sentence order, so that he did not spend any time in jail, given his serious health problems and advanced age. The Supreme Court found that was an error in law.
The Supreme Court’s ruling clarifies and limits the sentences available to anyone convicted of a historical sexual assault.
The principle that the lesser sentence ought to apply is still good law, but the sentence can only be one of two options: either what the sentence was when the offence was committed or what it is once you appear in court. For many people charged with a historical sexual crime, this means that conditional sentence orders are no longer an option.
Most sexual offences carry the risk of long jail sentences — if you have been charged with sexual assault, it is important for you to contact a lawyer right away.