1. Copyright © Kulus Consulting & Development 2016
These materials may not be commercially reproduced, but copying for other purposes, with credit, is encouraged.
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Kulus Consulting and Development
Phone: 778-355-3136 Email: kulus@shaw.ca Website: www.gladuereports.com
A Guide to Gladue Sentencing Submissions
If you self-identify as Aboriginal, you have rights under S.718.2 (e) of the Criminal Code, commonly referred to as
Gladue Rights. This requires the Judge to give special consideration to your circumstances, and to appropriate
restorative justice options when considering Bail or Sentencing. Either you or your lawyer can provide the Judge
with this information, and your submissions should include information about your social history, past and current
circumstances, including how you, your family, and community may have been impacted by systemic discrimination,
and colonization. To assist and guide the submission process, we would ask that you please review the Gladue
Report Pre-Interview form as part of your preparation.
Sentencing Submissions:
Your Honour; or Madam/Mr. Justice (as applicable)
I/My Client, {-----} is before the Court today to speak to Sentence on count/s {----} of file # {----}
I/My Client {--------} self-identifies as Aboriginal and wishes to advise the Court that they are aware and exercising
their S. 718.2(e) Gladue rights as a fundamental part of this process.
In addressing sentence, I/My Client, {-----} wishes to advise the Court that:
Please provide information about which community, Nation, or Band that you identify with:
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This portion provides the Judge a picture of you and your family
Please provide information about where you are living, how long you have been living there, and the general living
conditions, etc. - If released today, where would you go, and who would you live with - please provide contact
information for corroboration of this information:
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The Court is also interested in knowing about your immediate family. To assist the Judge could you please provide
some information about your partner, spouse, children, step-children etc. As a suggestion this might include their
names, contact information, ages/birthdates, and past/present circumstances regarding your relationship/contact
with them:
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The Court will want to know about your childhood. Are there significant events that occurred in your childhood?
Please provide the Court with an overview:
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2. Copyright © Kulus Consulting & Development 2016
These materials may not be commercially reproduced, but copying for other purposes, with credit, is encouraged.
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Was there any involvement with the Ministry/Foster Care/Adoptive Parents and Siblings as it relates to
apprehension, care, or generally? Please provide age of contact if known to you [or what age you were when this
occurred], circumstances, applicable dates, and contact information ~this information is being requested as
sometimes the best way to support your recollection of significant events is through others).
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Education
Please provide the Court with a history of your experiences in school – where you attended and your highest level of
education. Did you ever experience racism or have any behavioral or learning challenges? If so, were you provided
with any assessments, diagnosis, or educational supports - please provide details:
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Employment
Please provide a general history of your employment. Are there employers who would assist you in providing
information about your work; if so, can you provide their contact information? What is your present source of
income? What are your employment plans for the future?
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Do you have other information regarding your work skills, certificates, or interests that you would like to point out?
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Finances
What is your present financial situation – how do you support yourself and your family?
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3. Copyright © Kulus Consulting & Development 2016
These materials may not be commercially reproduced, but copying for other purposes, with credit, is encouraged.
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Substance Use
Has alcohol or drugs played a part in your upbringing or life? Please provide some details concerning how old you
were when first exposed, the circumstances regarding your usage [please try to be specific], and information
regarding any interventions, treatment programs, or other supports that you have accessed:
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Do you have any Mental or Physical issues which affect you?
Have you ever been assessed or provided with a formal mental health diagnosis? The Court will want to know about
any history of self-harm/suicide attempts, and if you have been or are presently under the care of a clinician. If so,
have been prescribed any medications? Please also provide a description of your physical health and detail
concerns that you may have:
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Criminal History
Please provide a brief history and description of your involvement with the criminal justice system from date [age]
of first arrest, to present:
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How have your personal circumstances or the type of offences changed in relation to your involvement with the
criminal justice system? Please explain how and why this may have occurred:
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4. Copyright © Kulus Consulting & Development 2016
These materials may not be commercially reproduced, but copying for other purposes, with credit, is encouraged.
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Aboriginal community
Please provide any details known to you regarding your Aboriginal community:
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Connection to your Aboriginal community of support
Please provide details regarding your awareness, involvement, and participation with cultural or community events
within your community. If there are elders or other community members who can speak to this, please provide their
contact information:
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Indian Residential School & Intergenerational Impacts
Please provide a detailed account of your family, community, or your own involvement with the Indian Residential
or Indian Day School system. If applicable, please also detail how this has impacted your community, family, and
you within your own life:
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SUMMARY AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE CONSIDERATIONS:
Provide a brief summation of the circumstances surrounding the offence, including your/the client’s background
and how that played a role (connect the dots). Include the Gladue factors, as in the example set out below, changing
each element to reflect the unique circumstances of the individual.
Over the course of preparing this report, a number of Gladue principles and factors became apparent:
 [--------] is an Aboriginal [man/woman] of [------] descent.
 [She/He] expressed a willingness to address the underlying factors that have contributed to matters before the
court.
 [--------] is an Aboriginal offender with a [lengthy criminal record],
A number of adverse impact factors that affect Aboriginals in general are present in [--------]’s personal life,
including:
1. Substance abuse: personally, in the immediate family, extended family, and community
2. Poverty; as a child, as an adult, offender's family, or community
3. Overt/Covert racism; in the community, by family members, strangers, school or workplace
4. Family (divorce, born out of wedlock) or community breakdown

5. Copyright © Kulus Consulting & Development 2016
These materials may not be commercially reproduced, but copying for other purposes, with credit, is encouraged.
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5. Abuse: sexual, emotional, verbal, physical, and spiritual
6. Who was the perpetrator: stranger, family member, authority figure, friend
7. Witnessing violence: spousal, family, community
8. [--------] reported physical, sexual, and emotional abuse
9. Indian residential school:
 Has the offender or family members attended residential school? If so, where, how many years, how
were they treated, how long were they denied family contact?
 Has a large settlement resulted in substance abuse?
 Intergenerational effects flowing from residential schools reported (e.g. alcohol and drug abuse,
violence, low educational achievement, criminal involvement, dislocation from an Aboriginal
community, loss of language, culture and traditions)
10. Suicide and early death due to substance abuse: for self, family
11. Unemployment, low income, lack of employment opportunity
12. Lack of educational opportunities
13. Dislocation from an Aboriginal community, loneliness and community fragmentation
14. Loss of identity, culture, ancestral knowledge
15. Foster care or adoption: at what age, for how long, was the foster/adopted family non-Aboriginal?
16. Family involvement in the criminal environment
17. What are the main social issues affecting the offender’s home/original community?
 How has the offender’s family/community addressed those issues?
 How has the offender, offender's family, and the community been affected by economic conditions?
18. What is the quality of the offender's relationship with family, extended family, community?
 Who comprise the offender’s support network: spiritual, cultural, family, community
19. What culturally relevant or mainstream healing resources are available to the offender?
20. What culturally relevant alternatives to incarceration can be set in place that are healing for the offender
and all others involved, including the community as a whole?
Then include one or two paragraphs brief justifications for the restorative justice options. These options should be
proportional to the gravity of offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender. The options must also address
the applicable underlying issues which brought the individual to the Court. Basic information about the resources
should include names/contact information, availability {waiting lists etc.}, description (i.e. location, applicable cost,
how-when person will attend and/or get to-from resource) and a rationale as to why the resource (including elders
& traditional approaches to healing and resolution of the matter) are appropriate in this instance.
Be Creative! And be sure to remember, that Restorative Justice includes more than the rehabilitative interests of the
offender, but require meaningful consultation with the affected community, and promotes the interests and safety of
the victim and community as a whole...
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