FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WHAT: BCCLA at Supreme Court of Canada to intervene in R v IM and R v SB to argue that the seriousness of a crime is irrelevant when deciding to sentence a young person as an adult 

WHEN: October 15, 2024, at 6:30 am PST 

WHERE: Supreme Court of Canada (Ottawa) 

Ottawa, ON (unceded Anishinabe Algonquin Territory) – On October 15, 2024, the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) will present oral arguments as an intervener at the Supreme Court of Canada’s hearing of the companion cases R v IM and R v SB. Both cases turn on the question of when it is appropriate to give a young person an adult sentence. 

When a young person under age 18 is convicted of a crime, they are usually sentenced based on special rules set for young people. This is because, as a principle of fundamental justice, courts will presume that young people have lower moral blameworthiness. In other words, young people are more immature, more vulnerable, and less capable of making moral judgements than adults. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, a young person may be sentenced as an adult if this presumption is rebutted by the Crown. In some cases, this could be the difference between a short-term custodial sentence or spending the rest of their lives in prison.  

The BCCLA is intervening to argue that factors, like the seriousness of the offence, which were used for both IM and SB, are not relevant. We argue that only factors related to the young person’s level of maturity, vulnerability, or capacity for moral judgement should be considered in giving adult sentences. For instance, we argue that a young person’s experiences of systemic racism, which was not sufficiently considered for SB, is extremely important in deciding whether to sentence a young person as an adult. 

The BCCLA is represented by Vincent Larochelle of Larochelle Law and Safiyya Ahmad of Pringle Law.