The Evidentiary Burden of a Crime of Passion - Jenna Symons
The following is an analysis of a motion made to the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench (“the MBQB”) in R v Assi (“Assi”), which challenged the constitutionality of a limitation placed on the defense of provocation. The applicant, that is, the accused (“the accused”) argued that the issue of the constitutionality of the amendment of section 232 of the Criminal Code (“the Code”) should be decided prior to the commencement of the trial. The following analysis will look at the foll
Skepticism of Drug Treatment Courts - Brayden Gray
Drug Treatment Courts (“DTC”) are alternative courts for those who are charged with certain offences related to drugs. Admittance requirements to a DTC changes depending on the area, with the Regina DTC requiring that offences must be deemed to be caused by an addiction to drugs. There are often restrictions to eligibility as well, such as not failing a DTC within the last year or committing more serious offences such as “serious violence, sexual assaults, family violence . .
Reliability of Sniffer Dogs - Lauren Gowler
Who let the dogs out? This familiar phrase, popularized in song, figuratively characterizes similarities between men and dogs. This is one of the many prevailing efforts by society overall to humanize and correspondingly place our trust in dogs. They are after all “man’s best friend”, exhibiting, imagined or not, all of the best human characteristics. Is it a surprise that they’ve been elevated to the position of police “sidekick”? Whereby, how the “sidekick” behaves, determi
R v Chung - M Ritchie
The case of R v Chung (“Chung”) exemplifies how judges can sometimes err in law and misapply legal principles. In Chung, the trial judge should have followed the reasonable person test set out in R v Roy (“Roy”) to determine whether or not Mr. Chung had the necessary mens rea for a finding of dangerous driving causing death. Instead, the trial judge focused on the speed and duration of Chung’s conduct, which led him to wrongly conclude that the mens rea component was not esta
How Much Suspicion Warrants Police Action? - Prachi Sanghavi
When police officers investigate crimes, they rely on a variety of means to find evidence. In crimes that are more planned and calculated, officers may need to conduct specific types of undercover investigations. This is especially relevant for cases for involving drug smuggling, human trafficking and/or terrorism. And in conducting these undercover investigations, some officers are tasked with tempting individuals to commit crimes. This power must be used carefully and offic