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Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

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Act current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2024-01-14. Previous Versions

Marginal note:Sentence of life imprisonment

 Subject to section 745.1, the sentence to be pronounced against a person who is to be sentenced to imprisonment for life shall be

  • (a) in respect of a person who has been convicted of high treason or first degree murder, that the person be sentenced to imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served twenty-five years of the sentence;

  • (b) in respect of a person who has been convicted of second degree murder where that person has previously been convicted of culpable homicide that is murder, however described in this Act, that that person be sentenced to imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served twenty-five years of the sentence;

  • (b.1) in respect of a person who has been convicted of second degree murder where that person has previously been convicted of an offence under section 4 or 6 of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act that had as its basis an intentional killing, whether or not it was planned and deliberate, that that person be sentenced to imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served twenty-five years of the sentence;

  • (c) in respect of a person who has been convicted of second degree murder, that the person be sentenced to imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until the person has served at least ten years of the sentence or such greater number of years, not being more than twenty-five years, as has been substituted therefor pursuant to section 745.4; and

  • (d) in respect of a person who has been convicted of any other offence, that the person be sentenced to imprisonment for life with normal eligibility for parole.

  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 745
  • R.S., 1985, c. 27 (2nd Supp.), s. 10
  • 1990, c. 17, s. 14
  • 1992, c. 51, s. 39
  • 1995, c. 22, s. 6
  • 2000, c. 24, s. 46

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