(Roche, 1999). Mandatory minimum sentences (MMS) of imprisonment have been a feature of the Canadian criminal justice system since 1892 when the first Criminal Code was enacted. At that time, there were six offences that carried minimum terms of imprisonment. Today, MMS affect over fifty offences in Canada and can be broken down into four distinct sections for clear understanding. The first section is for the mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison for first and second-degree murder and treason. The second section deals with firearms offenses. The third section of mandatory minimum sentences addresses repeat offenders in seven distinct categories, which include impaired driving and possession of unauthorized weapons. The last category of MMS in Canada deals with hybrid offenses. The majority of these mandatory minimum sentences were implemented in the Canadian legislation in 1995. If an offender commits a crime that has been determined to result in a mandatory minimum sentence within the Canadian Legislation, the judge must implement that sentence no matter what the aggravating or mitigating factors are. (Roberts, 2005) (Mangat, 2014). .
Issues of Mandatory Minimum Sentences.
One of the purposes of imposing the mandatory minimum sentences is to create a general deterrence for future crime, as this will initiate consistency among sentences. Crutcher and Gabor (2012) argue that deterrence is the hope that any "short term increases in the prison population produced by MMS will be off-set by long-term reductions arising from declining crime rates". According to their study, deterrence by MMS's can have positive results in some cases due to the certainty of punishment. In a lot of cases, such as impaired driving, there are more serious underlying issues that need to be addressed such as abuse problems, in which mandatory minimum sentences do not account for. The offender, in many cases, can be more harmed if placed in prison, as they need rehabilitative help and support.
