R. v. Bailey Date:, 2013 BCPC 326

Citation: R. v. Bailey Date: 20131210 2013 BCPC 0326 File No: 2011:59418 2011:60116 Registry: North Vancouver IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA REGINA v. DENNIS BAILEY REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE HONOURABLE JUDGE T. J. GOVE Counsel for the Crown: Anita Ghatak Counsel for the Defendant: Eric Warren Place of Hearing: Vancouver , B.C. Date of Hearing: December 10, 2013 Date of Judgment: December 10, 2013

[ 1 ] I sentenced the offender at Downtown Community Court on five offences of theft under $5,000 to 6 months’ imprisonment. [ 2 ] The Code has been amended as it relates to the victim surcharge. If an offence occurs after October 24, 2013, new provisions dealing with victim surcharges apply. The two offences from North Vancouver occurred on November 1, 2013, and are subject to the new provisions. The amendments to the Code change both the amount and procedure for dealing with the victim surcharge. [ 3 ] The offender is a man in his sixties with a criminal record going back forty-seven years.

He is a chronic offender who has spent much of his life in jail. When in the community he is a recipient of social assistance. He has no means to pay a victim surcharge. Prior to the amendments, I would have ordered that he be exempted from paying it, as I did with the three other offences that I sentenced him on today as they occurred before October 26, 2013. [ 4 ] With the amendment, Code s. 737(2)(b)(

i) provides that where no fine is imposed on a

summary conviction offence – as is the case here – the victim surcharge is $100. There is no provision to exempt anyone from the victim surcharge although the court is able to give the offender time to pay the victim surcharge. [ 5 ] Code s. 737(9) provides that if the victim surcharge is not paid, the sections of the Code that apply to a fine not paid, apply. Where an offender does not pay a fine or victim surcharge, a term of imprisonment is imposed in default (s. 734(4)). There is a formula for calculating the length of the prison term in default.

The length of imprisonment is based on the minimum wage in each province (s. 734(5)). In British Columbia a $100 victim surcharge has one day in default. [ 6 ] In the case before me I imposed a $100 victim surcharge on each of the two offences. The offender did not want time to pay the victim surcharge and was prepared to default forthwith. I accepted his default and imposed the mandated one day jail on each count, concurrent with the 6 monthes sentence. [ 7 ] To be clear, the victim surcharges are no longer outstanding; instead, time has been served. _____________________________ The Honourable Judge T. J.

Gove Provincial Court of British Columbia