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Minimum sentences can be lowered: top court
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Fri Feb 19, 2010 CBC News The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that in some "exceptional cases" a judge can reduce a sentence below the mandatory minimum sentence legislated by Parliament if someone's charter rights have been violated. In a unanimous decision released Friday, the court said that a man whose ribs were broken by police while being arrested for drinking and driving should not have had his sentence reduced, despite his rights violation. The Supreme Court found that sentencing provisions in the Criminal Code provide "remedial protection" to those whose rights have been infringed and that sentences must respect "statutory minimums."
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