Supreme Court to weigh in on ‘in-custody’ credit

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Supreme Court of Canada is about to hand down a decision over how much credit a judge can give an offender  for spending time in custody before trial.

The BC Civil Liberties Association is an intervener in the case and argues judges should be able to use their discretion when sentencing.

Up until four years ago, an offender got two days credit for every day spent in jail before sentencing. In other words, a judge would consider a day in custody equivalent to two days spent in jail. If an offender spent a year in custody awaiting trail, then received a three year jail sentence, the offender  would only have to spend another year in jail, as that year in custody was calculated as two years already served.

Ryan Dalziel with the association explains why spending time in custody should represent a longer time than in jail.

“Offenders don’t have access to rehabilitative programs. The conditions are often onerous in provincial facilities that aren’t equipped for long term residents.  It’s called ‘dead time’ for a reason.”

He says the repercussions of the decision are huge.

“In any given year, 4,000 Canadians are in pre-sentence custody. So the impact on the cost on the correctional system is significant. The impact on the liberty of thousands of Canadians is also significant.”

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