I was charged as a youth so there is no risk of getting a criminal record, right? Not exactly. In the Canadian criminal justice system it is well-recognized that young persons are to be treated differently than adults, with a particular focus on their diminished moral culpability. In fact, this is a guiding principle as set out in s.3(2) of…
This is the second part of a two-part blog on “Use of Records in Defending Sexual Offence Charges.” Read our first blog here. Over the past 30-odd years, both legislators and Canadian courts have gradually reshaped the law as it relates to sexual offences. First, “twin myth” reasoning was outlawed under s.276 of the Criminal Code of Canada, specifically, the…
In December 2018, amendments to the Criminal Code (sections 278.92 to 278.94) came into force which, for the first time, required defendants in sexual assault cases to disclose material in their possession to the prosecutor (the Crown) and to the complainant before being allowed to use that material at trial. In the years following the amendments, some lower courts had…
If you’re arrested inside your home, can police search parts of your home without a warrant? This blog provides preliminary legal information about the power to search a home incident to arrest.
The police do not have the authority to arrest someone engaging in lawful conduct in order to prevent others from breaching the peace.. This blog explores the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Fleming v. Ontario, a decision which placed additional limits on police powers.
Entrapment or the rule against entrapment is a limit on how police conduct their investigations. This blog provides preliminary information about this unilegal defence.
If the police arrest or detain you, you have the right to counsel, which is guaranteed by s. 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But what does this mean? Right to be informed immediately of your right to counsel Any time police arrest or detain someone they must immediately tell that person about their right to counsel.…
You confirmed your name to a stranger who then gave you a piece of paper with a somewhat familiar word written at the top of the page: subpoena. You’ve been served. What does this paper mean and what are you supposed to do? What is a subpoena? In the context of a criminal cases, a subpoena is a court order…
Why Do We Have the Presumption of Innocence? Famed American educator and diplomat Kingman Brewster once explained that the presumption of innocence, when approached in commonsense terms, “rests on that generosity of spirit which assumes the best, not the worst, of the stranger.” In Canada, we take this same approach. In fact, the presumption of innocence is not just a…
A Brief History of the Law Relating to Marihuana in Canada Before the Cannabis Act In the 1920s, the Canadian government criminalized cannabis (Opium and Narcotic Drug Act, 1923). In 1937, someone was arrested and charged with marihuana possession for the first time in Canadian history. The message at the time was clear: marihuana was not just bad, it was…