The Filing of Additional Reasons in Canada

The Criminal Code of Canada, R.S.C. 1985, requires a Canadian judge to provide “reasons” for any sentence imposed (see section 762.2). The Criminal Code does not require that reasons be provided for conviction or acquittal, but the Supreme Court of Canada has created a common-law requirement that reasons be provided when such decisions are rendered (see R. v. Sheppard, [2002] 1 S.C.R. 869). In R. v. M.(R.E.), [2008] 3 S.C.R. 3, the Supreme Court indicated that the “basis for [a] trial judge’s verdict must be ‘intelligible,’ or capable of being made out. In other words, a logical connection between the verdict and the basis for the verdict must be apparent” (at paragraph 43).