Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Law and Policy

This special issue of the Osgoode Hall Law Journal takes up the theme of mandatory minimum sentencing in Canada: the historical and current manifestations in criminal laws; its public policy dimensions; its impact on diverse communities; the pressures it exerts at different points in the criminal process; and its constitutional implications. Mandatory minimum sentences are sentences that are dictated by legislation as either an absolute mandatory sentence, for example life imprisonment for an individual convicted of murder in Canada, or as a minimum sentence below which a judge cannot descend in considering sentencing options for a given offence. When framed as a minimum sentence, the judge's only discretion is to sentence above the minimum threshold up to the legislated maximum.