R. v. Gladue, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 688, 1999 CanLII 679 (S.C.C.)

Source: (1999) File No.: 26300. Supreme Court of Canada. Downloaded 25 January 2005.

This document consists of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling in the case R. v. Gladue [1999], a case on appeal from the Court of Appeal for British Columbia. The ruling was highly significant in seeking to interpret and apply principles governing application Section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code of Canada with respect to the sentencing of aboriginal offenders. The original case stemmed from a criminal assault by an aboriginal woman against an aboriginal man in British Columbia. The man died from the assault. Following conviction and sentencing, appeal was made to the provincial court, which dismissed the accused woman’s appeal of her sentence. Appeal was then made from the provincial court to the Supreme Court of Canada, which dismissed the appeal. This document contains a summary of the case; the appeal process and ruling; discussion of the aboriginal culture and demographic statistics, especially in relation to the criminal justice and corrections systems in Canada; interpretation of Section 718.2(e); and principles for taking all of this into account in sentencing aboriginal offenders.