The Supreme Court of Canada [“SCC” or “The Court”] recently released its decision on three Alberta cases: R. v. Hills 2023 SCC 2 [“Hills”] and R. v. Hilbach 2023 SCC 3, the latter argued with the companion appeal, R. v. Zwozdesky. These cases challenge the constitutionality of mandatory minimum sentencing provisions, inviting the Court to […]
The Supreme Court of Canada [“SCC” or “The Court”] recently released its decision on three Alberta cases: R. v. Hills 2023 SCC 2 [“Hills”] and R. v. Hilbach 2023 SCC 3 [“Hilbach”], the latter argued with the companion appeal, R. v. Zwozdesky. These cases challenge the constitutionality of mandatory minimum sentencing provisions, inviting the Court […]
Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) heard three cases in relation to the constitutionality of certain firearm offences with mandatory minimums in the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 (the “CC”). This line of cases included: R v Hills, 2023 SCC 2 [Hills], R v Hilbach, 2023 SCC 3 [Hilbach], and R v […]
*TRIGGER WARNING: This post has descriptions of violence that may be triggering to some readers* Since the abolition of the death penalty, the highest sentence a judge can prescribe to a criminal offender is a life sentence with a 25-year parole ineligibility period. Where there are multiple murder victims, under s. 745.51 of the Criminal […]
This month, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted leave to appeal from a decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal (“ABCA”), which found that the mandatory minimum sentences for two related firearms offences violated the accused individuals’ rights under section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter]. Section 12 protects the […]
The Court of Appeal’s (“CA”) decision in Bissonnette c. R., 2020 QCCA 1585 (“Bissonnette”), illuminated the importance of respecting Parliament’s authority to re-write legislation when a court declares a statute unconstitutional.
What does it mean to say that a law is constitutional or not? What are we getting at when a label of constitutionality is attached to a law? Of course on one level, we are asking whether a particular provision violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter] (or is vires) – a technical […]
In Brown v Canada (Public Safety), 2018 ONCA 14 [Brown], the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) found that Alvin Brown’s rights not to be arbitrarily imprisoned or subjected to cruel and unusual punishment were not breached—despite the fact that he had been detained for five years awaiting immigration removal, and the existence of international guidelines against […]
On December 21st, 2017, the Supreme Court released its decision in R v Boutilier, 2017 SCC 64 [Boutilier], which deals with a constitutional challenge to the dangerous offender scheme in the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 [the Code]. This post will discuss the case and offer insight into its importance. In particular, the post […]
Two recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) were the subject of significant media attention this past spring. R v Lloyd, 2016 SCC 13 [Lloyd] and R v Safarzadeh‑Markhali, 2016 SCC 14 [Safarzadeh] involved constitutional challenges to sentencing provisions and have been framed as directly dismantling the previous federal government’s “tough on crime” […]