Canadian Criminal Sentencing/Procedure/Pre-Sentence Report

General Principles
A Pre-sentence Report is a report that is generated by a probation officer on order of the court after interviewing the accused and collateral sources that is for the benefit of the judge in determining sentence.

The enabling provision that allows the ordering of a report is section 721, which states:

Under section 724(3)(b), where there is a dispute on factual claims within the report, the party relying upon it must prove the fact.

The purpose of a pre-sentence report is to provide a “picture of the accused as a person in society - his background, family, education, employment record, his physical and mental health, his associates and social activities, and his potentialities and motivations.”

The function is not to provide evidence of an offence, give details of a criminal record, or tell the court what sentence to give.

The judge may use the information in the report to assess the character of the accused in order to relate the offence to the accused.

Where a judge lacks full information on the background of the accused, particularly where the jeopardy of the accused is significant a judge should order a pre-sentence report.

Generally, a pre-sentence report should be considered when sentencing a first-time offender.

However, given the general limitations on resources, the judge may want to decline to order a report where there is no specific purpose in ordering one.