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Sam Herbert

Sam Herbert (he/him) is a second-year J.D. student at Osgoode Hall Law School. Before entering law school, Sam completed a degree in Music at the University of Toronto, specializing in jazz performance and orchestration. Last year at Osgoode, he worked with Artists’ Legal Advice Services (ALAS) to provide free legal advice to Ontario’s artist communities. This past summer, Sam pursued his interest in civil litigation as a summer student at St. Lawrence Barristers PC, advocating for clients in a variety of legal settings. In the winter semester of this year, he will be joining the Poverty Law Intensive Program at Parkdale Community Legal Clinic in their Workers’ Rights division. Sam is passionate about legal research and finding underexplored issues in the law. In his free time, you’ll find him playing and watching soccer as well as orchestrating video game music for jazz bands.

Ceiling or No Ceiling? R v R.B.-C. and When Sentencing Delay Becomes Unreasonable

Posted on 16 October 2026

In R v R.B.-C., the Supreme Court of Canada was asked to apply a presumptive ceiling to determine when sentencing delay breaches s. 11(b) of the Charter. Justice Martin declined to do so, holding instead that the test is a ‘markedly longer’ standard. She also held that the correct remedy for unreasonable sentencing delay is a reduction in sentence. This unanimous decision from the Court reveals how it views judges as normative actors within the Canadian criminal justice system.