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By LegalMatters Staff • Deterrence is one of the primary objectives of sentencing. As the Criminal Code notes, “the fundamental purpose of sentencing is to protect society and to contribute, along with crime prevention initiatives, to respect for the law and the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society.”
The Code lists six key factors for judges to consider when imposing a sentence, the second being “to deter the offender and other persons from committing offences.”
“Is this objective ever really met?” asks Ottawa criminal lawyer Céline Dostaler. “After all, do we expect individuals who are contemplating a crime to read a sentencing decision and say, ‘I see this person went to jail for four years, so maybe I shouldn’t commit the offence I was thinking about?’”
Dostaler adds that on an individual level, deterrence does work. Once a person is punished, the hope is that they would not commit the same offence again.
“But general deterrence is more complicated and it may not be as useful as we would like to believe,” she says.
Dostaler says the justice system should examine the idea of general deterrence in sentencing and decide its actual value. As she asks, “Will people be less inclined to commit crimes because of the harsh sentences given to others by the courts?”
