Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which the convicted criminal is to remain in prison for the rest of their natural life. Crimes that warrant life imprisonment are extremely serious and usually violent. Examples of these crimes are murder, torture, terrorism, child abuse resulting in death, rape, espionage, treason, illegal drug trade, human trafficking, severe fraud and financial crimes, aggravated property damage, arson, hate crime, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, theft, piracy, aircraft hijacking, and genocide.
Richard Colvin Reid, also known as the Shoe Bomber, is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young man in prison after years as a petty criminal. Later he became radicalized and went to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained and became a member of al-Qaeda.
Terrorism and mass attacks in Canada includes acts of terrorism, as well as mass shootings, vehicle-ramming attacks, mass stabbings, and other such acts committed in Canada that people may associate with terroristic tactics but have not been classified as terrorism by the Canadian legal system.
In Canada and England and Wales, certain convicted persons may be designated as dangerous offenders and subject to a longer, or indefinite, term of imprisonment in order to protect the public. Dangerousness in law is a legal establishment of the risk that a person poses to cause harm. Other countries, including Denmark, Norway, and parts of the United States have similar provisions of law.
Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non-punitive purposes, most often to prevent further criminal acts.
The Anti-terrorism Act is an Act passed by the Parliament of Canada in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. It received Royal Assent on December 18, 2001, as Bill C-36. The "omnibus bill" extended the powers of government and institutions within the Canadian security establishment to respond to the threat of terrorism.
The Parole Board of Canada is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons in Canada. It operates under the auspices of Public Safety Canada.
The 2006 Ontario terrorism case is the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adults and 4 youths . These individuals have been characterized as having been inspired by al-Qaeda.
Zakaria Amara is one of 17 people detained on June 2 and 3, 2006, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He was convicted for planning to launch terrorist attacks against targets in Southern Ontario and was believed to be one of the ringleaders. A dual Canadian-Jordanian citizen at the time of his arrest, Amara was stripped of his Canadian citizenship on September 26, 2015. However, on June 19, 2017, his Canadian citizenship was automatically restored following the passage of Bill C-6.
The Security of Information Act, formerly known as the Official Secrets Act, is an Act of the Parliament of Canada that addresses national security concerns, including threats of espionage by foreign powers and terrorist groups, and the intimidation or coercion of ethnocultural communities in and against Canada.
Mohammad Momin Khawaja is a Canadian found guilty of involvement in a plot to plant fertilizer bombs in the United Kingdom; while working as a software engineer under contract to the Foreign Affairs department in 2004 became the first person charged and found guilty under the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act following the proof that he communicated with British Islamists plotting a bomb attack. On March 12, 2009, Khawaja was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison and was eligible for parole five years into the prison term. On December 17, 2010, Khawaja's sentence was increased to life imprisonment by the Ontario Court of Appeals.
Life imprisonment in Canada is a criminal sentence for certain offences that lasts for the offender’s life. Parole is possible, but even if paroled, the offender remains under the supervision of Corrections Canada for their lifetime, and can be returned to prison for parole violations.
Canadian criminal law is governed by the Criminal Code, which includes the principles and powers in relation to criminal sentencing in Canada.
In Canada, homicide is the act of causing death to another person through any means, directly or indirectly. Homicide can either be culpable or non-culpable, with the former being unlawful under a category of offences defined in the Criminal Code, a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada that applies uniformly across the country. Murder is the most serious category of culpable homicide, the others being manslaughter and infanticide.
Life imprisonment in Turkey is a legal form of punishment and the most severe form of punishment. In most cases life imprisonment replaced capital punishment. Law 4771 of 3 August 2002 abolished the death penalty for peace time and replaced capital punishment with life imprisonment for 17 provisions of the Turkish Penal Code. Law 5218 of 14 July 2004 abolished the death penalty completely. This law provided that in some 40 provisions of the Turkish Penal Code and other laws such as the Law on Forests the death penalty was replaced by aggravated life imprisonment.
The 2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot was a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in and against Canada in the form of disruption, destruction or derailment of trains operated by Canada's national passenger railway service, Via Rail Canada. The alleged targeted train route was the Maple Leaf, the daily train service between Toronto and New York City operated jointly by Via Rail and Amtrak. A railway bridge over the Twenty Mile Creek in Jordan, Ontario, was later identified as the target, according to unsealed court documents.
The Quebec City mosque shooting was an attack by a single gunman on the evening of January 29, 2017, at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, a mosque in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Canada. Six worshippers were killed and five others seriously injured after evening prayers when the gunman entered the prayer hall shortly before 8:00 pm and opened fire for about two minutes with a 9mm Glock pistol. Approximately 40 people were reported present at the time of the shooting.
The Combating Terrorism Act is an Act of the Parliament of Canada that renewed some provisions to the Criminal Code that had expired under a sunset clause for a new five-year term, and to introduce new crimes for leaving Canada to join or train with a terror group.
A misogynist terrorist attack in a Toronto erotic spa took place on 24 February 2020.
Michael Edelson is a Canadian criminal defence lawyer based in Ottawa, Ontario. He has represented numerous high-profile clients in Canada.
