On March 14, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that a sentencing judge may exercise his or her discretion to take collateral immigration consequences into account in fashioning an appropriate sentence. See the decision in R. v. Pham, 2013 SCC 15.
It is important for criminal lawyers to bring the immigration status of an accused person to the attention of a sentencing judge. A minimal reduction in jail time, for example, may prevent deportation or the automatic loss of appeal rights. Information concerning immigration status is also necessary to have effective negotiations with the prosecutor.
Sometimes, it will be necessary for an accused person to retain an immigration lawyer to give an opinion on the consequences of a conviction or sentence. Section 36 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act sets the law on criminal inadmissibility to Canada. A good article explaining criminal inadmissibility from an Ottawa immigration lawyer is available from www.warrentcreates.com here.
