R. v. Poulin

A convicted person has the right to the punishment that applied either when they committed their crime or when they are sentenced, whichever is lower, the Supreme Court has ruled. They don’t have a right to the lowest punishment that might have existed any time in between.

Decision

Date: October 11, 2019

Neutral Citation: 2019 SCC 47

Breakdown of the decision:

Majority: Justice Sheilah Martin allowed the appeal (Chief Justice Wagner and Justices Moldaver and Côté agreed)

Dissenting: Justice Andromache Karakatsanis said the Court shouldn’t have heard the case because Mr. Poulin had died, but would have dismissed the appeal because courts’ consistent interpretation that a person had a right to the lowest punishment available over the whole time was fair and supported by the Charter wording (Justices Abella and Brown agreed)

On appeal from the Court of Appeal of Quebec

Case information (37994)

Webcast of hearing

Lower court rulings (in French only):

 Sentencing judgment (Court of Quebec)

Appeal (Court of Appeal of Quebec)